


The Landlord to his Coy Mistress

by SolaceActor



Category: Benedict Cumberbatch - Fandom, Real Person Fiction
Genre: F/M, FanFiction.Net, Humour, Romance, SolaceActor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-13
Updated: 2013-07-13
Packaged: 2017-12-19 08:51:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 27,203
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/881845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SolaceActor/pseuds/SolaceActor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Natalia is in search of a flat and it appears that she has found the perfect one with the perfect landlord. Rated T for swearing and sexual situations but no lemons or outrageous citrus. Mostly fluff and some teasing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is posted under the same name and same username on fanfiction.net as well! I might add a few extra citrus scenes for later after the hotel, and I like to think I'll write a sequel or something. For now, though, try and enjoy what I've written here!

"I'll be fine, Mum. London's big, but it's not that big." I lied through my teeth and ended the call. My mother; ever the worrier. Looking for an apartment in London was extremely difficult, especially when I have somewhat of a low budget. The centre appeared to be the most expensive, so I figured I should aim for something on the outskirts of London. Hopefully the landlord would be nice…

I hailed a taxi and slid in, staring at the streets that went past rather slowly thanks to the constant traffic that littered London. It took about 40 minutes to get to the outside of London where most of the apartments were. The taxi drove away when I changed my mind and tried to ask for another location. I sighed and looked at the amount of apartment complexes everywhere. As much it couldn't hurt to look around, I didn't want to be surrounded by other apartments where there'd be lots of noise and things happening. I wanted a quiet place to relax when I wasn't working in the centre.

After another hour and 30 minutes of searching around, I finally found an apartment that looked to have only a few rooms inside. It had a sign that said 'To Rent' in a dusty window, but that was the only clue I had to seeing that it was, indeed, an apartment. It looked a bit shabby on the outside, but who's to say it'll be the same on the inside. I breathed deeply and walked up to the door, knocking gently. There was no response for a little while. I knocked again. Still no response. Damn. I leaned my back against the door and blew out the air that I had yet to exhale with frustration. It could have been a great opportunity. And then the door flew open and I flew backwards.

I landed on the hard floor with a graceless thud and groaned. "Oh, I'm so sorry!" A deep cello-like voice said sincerely. I opened my scrunched up eyes to find one of the most attractive men I had ever seen crouched down and looking at me. Not to mention that I knew exactly who this man was. His dark brown curly hair that was being grown out for his next role… His sharp cheekbones that had always appealed to me… His defined nose and bone structure… His angular but slender neck… That sharp cupid's bow of his lips… Jesus, even his eyes were beautiful. I was looking into the most beautiful eyes I had ever seen, and those eyes belonged to Benedict Cumberbatch.

"Oh… No, no, it's my fault, I shouldn't have been leaning on the door like that." I dismissed his apologies with wide eyes.  
"Ah, but I should have gotten down here sooner. I was in the midst of getting changed when I heard you knock. I'm afraid I'm not very well-dressed for callers…" He continued to apologise and I cast my eyes down to his attire. He was wearing a very tight t-shirt and some jogging bottoms. I could feel myself getting redder by the minute.

"U-um… It's alright… You're dressed better than I am anyway…" I squeaked. He laughed at my poor excuse of a joke with what seemed like genuine amusement. Was that a hint of sincerity I detected? To be honest, he could always look better than me no matter what he was wearing. I was wearing a pencil skirt that was a little tattered and an off-colour blouse with a black coat. Not the most attractive I've looked in my life.  
"I'm dressed like a slob, miss, but thank you anyway. Here, let me help you up." His soft, slender, agile, amazing hands clasped mine and he pulled me up with little to no effort. Dear lord, I've got it bad…

"Thank you." I mumbled with rosy cheeks. Benedict smiled back at me.  
"Now, can I ask why you're here? You don't strike me as a reporter, and I try to keep my home address secret…" I looked up into his eyes again and shook my head.  
"Oh, no, no, I'm in London for an apartment. I didn't want to be in a busy neighbourhood, so I came looking for a more isolated flat. This one was the best that I could find so I thought I would take a gander… There are still rooms to rent, right?" I asked hopefully. Benedict grinned and nodded.  
"Yeah, there is! I'm so glad someone is interested. I've been hoping someone would find this apartment but I've never really been able to advertise it, since… well… Since I'm a bit well-known around here." He tried to say it as modestly as he could, bless his heart.

"Well, I already know who you are, to be honest, but I won't breathe a word to anyone if you don't want me to! My mum needn't know and I can avoid friends coming over and I'll give you as much notice as I can before someone invites themselves over!" I sounded like a pathetic little girl. "Please, this is the only apartment that I can really afford anyway…" Benedict placed a hand on my shoulder with a look of concern.

"Is everything alright, miss? Sounds to me like you're stressed…" I was getting rather flustered I suppose. I was begging a huge celebrity not to chuck me out because I had nowhere else to go and this was the closest place to where I worked.

"I-I… I have nowhere else to go unless I go live with my mum… And she's an absolute nightmare - we'd be throwing books at each other over the stupidest of things. I… I don't know where else to go. I hate to bother you, mister Cumberbatch, bu-."  
"Please…" Benedict stopped by raising his other hand, "Call me Benedict. And really, it's no worry. I didn't put that sign up for nothing." He smiled warmly at me. "Come on. I'll show you to your room." He turned to walk up some stairs.

I gaped at him. "You-you don't have any questions for me? No forms for me to sign? Nothing?" Benedict turned and looked at me with a big grin.  
"Nope, nothing. You're a nice girl, miss. I'm not going to leave you on the streets, not if my life depended on it." Oh, if Tumblr could see me now…

"Now, what's your name, miss?" He questioned. For a moment, I forgot what it was.  
"U-um, it's Natalia. Natalia Frame." Benedict smiled and shook my hand.  
"Pleasure to meet you, Natalia. I'm Benedict Cumberbatch." He winked cheekily and kissed my hand quickly before letting it go and gesturing for me to follow him. Was this such a good idea? Fuck it.

The stairs were old and creaky, and I knew that if I stumbled in after a midnight shift at bar, I'd wake everyone up, which made me think of my next question. "Mister C-Benedict?"  
"Mmhmm?" He hummed, his voice purring from where he walked in front of me. He peered over his shoulder at me and stopped at the break between two flights of stairs to look at me properly. I felt a shiver run up my spine and I tried my hardest to supress it. Not gonna happen. "Does anyone else live here?" I asked.  
"No, just me. I've been waiting for someone else to join me here for a while. It's been a bit lonely since Olivia left, but I'm sure it'll be more exciting now that you're here." He winked again and then continued up the stairs. We were on the top floor, where there were two doors.

"I'm on the floor below you, as I need to be close to the door. Pick which room you want. They're basically the same." He offered. I peered at both of the doors. The one on the right, furthest from the stairs, seemed to appeal to me more. I pointed at it and Benedict smiled encouragingly. "Ah, I'll be right below you then." Oh lordy…

"Have you got any stuff with you?" Benedict asked as he unlocked the apartment, his back straining through the tight white t-shirt. Hnng…  
"U-um, it's at work at the moment. I asked them if I could keep my stuff there until I found a place. I've been sleeping in the back on the sofa for about a week and it's not comfortable at all." I rambled a little. Benedict chuckled.  
"Sleeping on a sofa? I'm glad you came here instead – there's a lovely bed in here with an extremely comfortable mattress. I've got the same one downstairs. It's like sleeping on air." The door opened and we walked inside. It already had furniture in it, which was absolutely spectacular. I beamed as I surveyed where I would be living. There was a bed over in the corner with half of a wall separating it from the rest of the room. There was a kitchen on the side near the door and the living room was at the window end, near the bedroom. There was a random door near the bedroom that looked like it would lead to a nicely fitted bathroom and everything was already furnished.

"Everything is already here? Did someone not need this furniture?" I inquired as I looked at Benedict. He shook his head.  
"The previous landlord couldn't afford to keep the place but he didn't want to give it to the government for some other purpose. I offered to keep the business going for him and he left all the furniture he had bought at the beginning of his landlord days. He's retired happily in Glasgow actually." Benedict explained cheerily. I smiled and nodded.  
"This place is amazing… How much will I need to give you?" Benedict appeared to be thinking hard as he looked at me.  
"I think… a tenner a week?" I gasped.  
"That low?!"

Benedict laughed loudly. "Of course, you're my first customer! You get discount!"  
"A huge discount!" I screamed with delight and shock.  
"Well, I suppose it's a little low… Tell you what, if you help out with cleaning the downstairs, it'll be perfectly fine." He's a saint, he's a saint, he's a saint, he's a saint…

"Oh my goodness, this is just… this is an amazing offer and I will not let you down!" I was so excited I hugged him enthusiastically. He stumbled a little but laughed anyway and returned the hug. Holy shit… I'm hugging Benedict Cumberbatch… And he's hugging me back… And he's in a tight top… And he smells amazing… Oh… God… I pulled back with a very red face. "Sorry, I guess I was excited…" I murmured sheepishly. He chortled at me and hugged me again.  
"You have every reason to be." He replied and then let go.

"Do you want help moving in?" He's given me so much, I can't possibly take any more. I voiced this thought and he just shrugged it off. "Pfft, I'd be a terrible landlord if I didn't help a young damsel in distress." He winked again and I giggled. I fucking giggled. Oh god…  
"Well, even so, I can manage. Don't want you hurting your back before you can film Sherlock anyhow." I replied cheekily and grinned at the room again. "This is going to be perfect."

I hauled all of my stuff out of the taxi and thanked him profusely. He was kind enough to help me lug it all in and lug it all out. I paid him and gave him a bigger tip than I normally would and he drove away with a beep of the horn. I waved and turned back to my things. Fumbling with the keys Benedict had given me, I unlocked the door and put a stopper in the door to stop it from slamming shut.

Box after box came inside. I had about 15 of them. Most of them had clothes and books in them. I had a chest or 2 as well. I didn't pack lightly, and I knew I never would be able to. I had to have books with me at all times. I especially adored Shakespeare, poetry and zombie thrillers. Yeah, a huge contrast with that last one. So, most of my books consisted of beautifully written words of love, tragedy and brains getting munched on. Lovely.

Sounds of feet coming down the stairs told me Benedict had heard me yelp a little when I lost my grip on one of the huge chests and my back and neck twinged with the strain, along with my hands and arms. Immediately, Benedict ran over and took it from my arms. He was a little startled by how heavy it was, but it wasn't as much of a burden to him as it was to me. I noticed he had changed. He was wearing dark jeans that were sort of tight, but sort of baggy too, and another tight t-shirt. His arms looked huge in the t-shirt, but I could see his chest muscles and back muscles move as he juggled it a bit and then put it down.

He then turned and looked at me somewhat disapprovingly. "You thought you'd be able to bring that in on your own?" I shrugged sheepishly.  
"I got it here, didn't I?" I mumbled with reddening cheeks. I probably looked like a stubborn child to him. I hid my face behind my hair in shame and cleared my throat, leaving to get the other chest.  
"Natalia, I'll get that." Benedict said, walking past me.  
"No, it's fine. It's not your burden to bear, I'll take it." He looked back at me, his curly brown hair moving slightly in the breeze, like mine.  
"That was almost poetic." He joked a little. "But it's fine really. I could see that it was hurting your back. And I'm guessing this chest it just as heavy as the last one."  
"Um… It's going to be heavier…" His eyebrows shot up.

"What's in these, if you don't mind me asking?" I shuffled a little.  
"Books and a few clothes. But mostly books." My face was scorching once more and I was thankful for the gust of wind that blew my hair in front of my face. I heard Benedict laugh.  
"Now that's something worth risking your backbone for." He chuckled, and I did as well. "It's okay. I've got this. After all, we still need to get these to the top floor, don't we?" I groaned as he laughed at me. I'm glad I could make Benedict laugh at my silliness and immaturity. Thank god someone does.

After bringing the last of the boxes in and taking them upstairs, we were stuck with the mammoth task of taking the chests upstairs. The entire job of moving everything was awkward in my pencil skirt, but I didn't want to have to find the right pair of jeans for me to move properly, so I just left it. I would pull the chest up and Benedict would push it, as he was dead-set on it ("I don't want you to get squashed if my grip fails!"). The first chest – the lighter one – went up first, and it was relatively easy. The second one, not so much. We both decided that both of us pushing it would be easier. So, I was walking up the stairs with Benedict by my side as we struggled to push the heaviest chest up two (four, technically, if you count the little breaks in between) and keep the other upright. I'd slipped quite a few times on the stairs from pushing too hard and my foot just slipping off the step I was on. Luckily, Benedict always managed to grab me and keep the chest up with his shoulder. I apologised profusely every time.

Finally, after such long and arduous work, we managed to get the chest to the top floor. Benedict insisted on taking it in himself, and he did, to my surprise; he looked as exhausted as I was. I counted the boxes and sighed with relief, thankful I had everything up here. I turned to Benedict. "Thank you so, so much for the help you've given me, Benedict. I wouldn't have done this without you." Benedict shrugged.  
"I did tell you so, didn't I?" He said cheekily with a grin. "It was my pleasure, Natalia. I'm glad to help anytime." He was so sincere, I had a hard job of not believing him.

"I'm so sorry for any back ache I've caused you though! I may as well offer you a cup of tea for all the help you've given me." He looked reluctant. "Please? It's the least I can do. And I can pay you back for everything. I can help clean anything you want! I can even do shopping if need be!" I was desperate to show him how much I appreciated the help he'd shown me.  
"Natalia, I'm grateful for the cleaning you're going to do, and a cup of tea would be smashing, but there'll be no need for you to do any shopping to repay me. This is my duty as a landlord." He had walked closer as he'd said that and we were about six inches away from each other. I sighed and nodded. "So… a yes for the cup of tea?" I asked with a hopeful smile. He grinned and nodded.

I quickly busied myself with grabbing the box labelled 'kitchen' and started unpacking it, looking for my kettle. I plugged it in and turned it on as I started putting cutlery, mugs, glasses, plates, etc, away. "Sit down, please." I gestured to the seating area. He smiled and sat down casually.  
"How do you take your tea?" I asked, looking over my shoulder at him. My lips parted slightly as I took in how he was sitting and what he doing. He had opened one of the trunks and he was reading one of my favourite poem books (albeit, it's from my ex-neighbour's daughter's GCSE English exams) and he was thumbing through it casually with his left leg propped on the other at the ankle (of the left leg) and he was murmuring the words.

"Quite strong with one sugar, please." He said pleasantly with an equally so smile. I smiled back.  
"Which poem are you reading?" He looked up with a devilish smirk.  
"It's 'To His Coy Mistress' by Andrew Marvell." He said with a slight teasing tone in his voice. I gulped.  
"It's one of my favourites, despite its… ahem, slightly inappropriate context. The annotations on all of the poems aren't mine. Well, some of them are. The anthology used to belong to my next-door neighbour's daughter. She finished her GCSE year and gave it to me, since she hated poetry. I used to help out with analysing the poem's language and structural devices… Oh lordy, I sound like a teacher." I chuckled slightly at my antics. I always rambled when I was a little nervous.

"It is a very interesting read… Would you like me to read it aloud? It is one of your favourites after all, and I'm sure you'd enjoy a listen." Benedict reasoned. He seemed like he very much wanted to read it to me. Hm.  
"Alright then, Benedict. Give it your best shot." I challenged lightly with a grin. He smirked back.

"Had we but world enough, and time, this coyness, lady, were no crime." Oh dear lord… "We would sit down and think which way to walk, and pass our long love's day; thou by the Indian Ganges' side shouldst rubies find; I by the tide of Humber would complain." Why… Why would I ask him to do this? His voice was the sound of perfection, it really was. He sounded like a cello in one of its perfect symphonies, humming along to the vibrations of the strings it would make. Oh no, I'm going poetic and descriptive about his voice, I'm head over heels or something, aren't I? "I would love you ten years before the Flood; and you should, if you please, refuse till the conversion of the Jews. My vegetable love should grow vaster than empires, and more slow." OH GOD. "An hundred years should go to praise thine eyes, and on thy forehead gaze; two hundred to adore each breast, but thirty thousand to the rest; an age at least to every part, and the last age should show your heart. For, lady, you deserve this state, nor would I love at lower rate." I could feel my eyes try to close in the pleasure I was receiving from simply hearing his voice reading such a suggestive and erotic poem. God… "But at my back I always hear time's winged chariot hurrying near; and yonder all before us lie deserts of vast eternity. Thy beauty shall no more be found, nor, in thy marble vault, shall sound my echoing song; then worms shall try that long preserv'd virginity, and your quaint honour turn to dust, and into ashes all my lust." I think my ovaries just burst. "The grave's a fine and private place, but none I think do there embrace." He paused and I looked over to see why. He was staring over at me with dark eyes that I could not read. The tea had long brewed. Our eyes remained locked.

"Now therefore, while the youthful hue sits on thy skin like morning dew, and while thy willing soul transpires at every pore with instant fires, now let us sport us while we may; and now, like am'rous birds of prey, rather at once our time devour, than languish in his slow-chapp'd power. Let us roll all our strength, and all our sweetness, up into one ball; and tear our pleasures with rough strife thorough the iron gates of life. Thus, though we cannot make our sun stand still, yet we will make him run." He finished the poem and then looked back up at me.

"I can see why you like it." He mumbled, his voice still rich and delicious to listen to. I nodded breathlessly and turned back to the tea with my face burning as though the hot water was scalding my face. "It has a certain… charm to it." Is he flirting or is he analysing?  
"I s-suppose it does…" I replied with a tiny stammer. I hope he didn't notice. I poured milk into the tea, stirred it and then brought over two mugs, placing one in front of Benedict. He smiled and placed the anthology down on the table. We sipped our tea in unison and made noises of appreciation as the hot beverage poured down our throats. "I do love a cup of tea." I murmured to myself. Benedict agreed whole-heartedly.

We ended up talking until it was about dinner time, and I realised I needed to go shopping and continue unpacking. I decided shopping could wait until tomorrow. I – shamefully – lied to Benedict, and said that I had food that I could unpack and he reluctantly went downstairs to make himself some dinner. The smells of pasta and tomatoes wafted upstairs quickly and my stomach growled. I defiantly continued to unpack. Only when it was quarter past one in the morning did I finish unpacking completely and realise how hungry I was. I had absolutely no food and no shops would be open that were close to the apartment. I didn't trust London this early in the morning so I grumbled to myself about my stupid decision. My stomach continued to make noises and pester me until I stamped my foot in frustration. I immediately winced when I recalled Benedict lived below. Oh no, please say I didn't wake him up… After a few minutes of silence, I decided it was safe and continued to ignore the persistent sounds and aches from my stomach.

The more I waited for the hunger to pass, the more the shadows seemed to stretch towards me and try to take me into their depths. The horror films I watched and the horror books I read were certainly contributing to my overactive imagination and I shuddered, quickly flicking on all of my lights. The entire flat was completely silent, save for my breathing. I despised the silence in this particular moment. Any other time, I would have welcomed it. But then, I was frightened and I had to get out.

I pulled on some shoes and put on my big coat, hoping I could find a bar or café that would sell a sandwich of a sort and just get away from the room I had to sleep in for the next year or so. Unfortunately, I had forgotten about the creaky stairs. I went down them and winced when one of them creaked extremely loudly. After a few moments of silence, I heard shuffling coming from behind a door just behind me. I scolded myself and tried to keep going but the door opened, throwing the hallway into light. I turned and blinked a bit in the brightness. Benedict flicked on the hallway light and looked at me concerned. He didn't even appear tired. He did appear to be worried, however, and he was only wearing jogging bottoms. He wasn't wearing a shirt. No shirt. No top. Just bottoms. I can't tell if the guy upstairs loves me or hates me right now.

"Natalia." He said simply, tilting his head a little. I gaped like a fish a little at being caught so quickly but I snapped my mouth shut quick.  
"Benedict." I returned shyly.  
"I could hear you moving about upstairs a lot. You sounded distressed." I didn't say anything. "Where are you heading off to?" He asked curiously, leaning against the doorjamb. Oh god, he's leaning against the doorjamb with no shirt on, oh god… Tumblr, help me, what do I do?

"I… I was going out for fresh air…" I lied through my teeth and he knew it.  
"I don't mean to be a bother to you, Natalia, if you don't want to stay, you can say, and I'll help you mo-." I quickly cut across him.  
"No, no! No, I'm not trying to leave or anything, not after everything you've done for me, no! I…" I sighed dejectedly and my shoulders slumped. "I didn't have any food packed away so I figured I would find a café and see if they sold any sandwiches. And… I was a little scared of being alone in a new room." I confessed shamefully. Benedict's posture visibly relaxed and he held out his hand. I looked at it with a frown.  
"Come on, I'm not going to bite." He chuckled softly. I half returned it and reached out. He clasped my hand gently and pulled me over. He led me inside and sat me down.

"When was the last time you ate?" He asked as he looked around in his cupboards. I sighed again.  
"The day before yesterday. I had a quick sandwich for dinner." He looked at me.  
"You didn't eat at all yesterday?" He questioned with surprise. I shook my head.  
"I just wasn't hungry. I was so busy." He nodded.  
"I understand that." He replied and continued to look for food. In the end, Benedict put a bowl of egg fried rice in front of me with a fork. I looked up at him hesitantly and he smiled encouragingly at me. "Go on." He urged me. I took it from him slowly and began to eat it. It was really nice, I recall. When I finished, Benedict whisked the bowl away and led me back upstairs.

"Will you be alright on your own?" He asked as he followed me to my bed. He seemed to pick up on my reluctance to leave him just yet. I'm a wuss, I know, but I don't like unfamiliar places, much less sleeping in them. "I… I don't know. I think so. It's just a new room, and I'll get used to it. I guess the horror stories I read about girls moving into haunted apartments aren't exactly helping any." I chuckled a little and he did as well.  
"I've done a thorough sweep of the place. No ghosts, demons, ghouls, poltergeists or anything supernatural. I promise." Benedict reassured me with a warm smile. Damn, why is he so nice?

"Again, I have to thank you… I don't think I've thanked anyone this much in one day, to be honest." The corner of my lip quirked up as he continued to smile at me. "I met you yesterday and you've given me a roof to live under, you've helped me move in, you're not charging me half as much as you should and you've catered to my need of food as well. I don't even know where I'm going to start when I need to repay you." My head was lowered again, for shame that he'd decide that I was too weak for him to bother with because all I did was thank him or apologise. I was too stubborn to accept help most times, even when I knew that I needed it. I felt like a child in front of my role model and celebrity crush (big time crush) and this wasn't helping any.

Instead of a snort of disgust (thought it would have been very un-Benedict), I felt warm bare arms enclose around my body, and my face was right next to his neck. He was hugging me… without a shirt on. I could literally feel all of his muscles relaxing as I returned the hug and I, ashamedly, buried my face into the crook of his bare neck. Hnng. That's all I can say.

After about a minute of the much-needed embrace, we both pulled away, neither of us daring to look into the other's eyes. Or at least, I dared not to look into his eyes. That could have been dangerous. "I'll stay with you." Benedict assured me. I nodded. He walked to the other side of the wall, near the kitchen, so I could change into some pyjamas. It was just a pair of grey shorts and yellow spaghetti-strap top. "The room looks great with your stuff in here." He complimented.  
"Thank you." I blushed still, thankful that he couldn't see me. I changed quickly and then walked out from behind the wall. "You can have the bed, as you're my guest." I pointed out. He turned quickly and appeared to freeze for a moment before continuing.

"No, I refuse to take the bed. It's your first night here, and you're going to be comfortable." He gave me a look when I tried to argue. It made me feel a little guilty and childish, but he was thinking of my best interests, I knew. "Fine…" I muttered reluctantly. He immediately smiled at me.  
"Excellent. Now, go on. Try out your new bed." He encouraged happily. I chuckled and crawled into the bed. He was right. He was incredibly comfortable. Benedict laughed as I gasped with delight at how amazing it was. I smiled up at him from my bed. He returned it and went around flicking lights off.

When all of the lights, but my lamp, were out, he grabbed one of the two blankets I had on the sofa and lay down over the cushions with the blanket on top of him. "You can have both of the blankets if you want." I offered. He pulled the other one over him and thanked me. I flicked off the lamp and settled under the duvet, guilt gnawing at my gut, but happiness clenching my heart. "Good night, Natalia." I smiled weakly.  
"Good night, Benedict." I think I just fell in love with a man I had only met yesterday.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Benedict and Natalia celebrate the finished work of downstairs and another occupant.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 2! This was all posted on fanfiction.net so I'm posting it here since there's a wider fandom on here for real person fiction.

I'd been in the same apartment as Benedict for quite a while now, bordering on 3 months actually, and we were getting along really well. I guess you could say we were pretty close friends now. Since no one else had visited for a little while, we were alone for most of the time. I had done as I had promised and had been cleaning the downstairs to pay back for the huge discount and help he had given me on my first day. I had never forgotten the fact that he had stayed with me that first night and every time he asked for a favour, I made sure that I was available to do it, no matter the cost. My employer had noticed the happy change in my demeanour since I had found a place of my own and had spoken to me about it a lot. I remained tight-lipped on the subject, of course.

I sighed with relief and wiped my forehead of the sweat that accumulated there. The entirety of the downstairs was complete. Even the stairs and wooden floors were waxed and clean. Thankfully, I had baggy shorts on and a tight top on with a hair band to keep my long hair back. My knees were no doubt bruised and smelled of wax and looked a little brown from the varnish on the floor, but better my skin than my jeans. Looking around, I was feeling very proud of myself. It was all 'spick and span' as my mother would say. My flat-soled shoes were also covered in brown and were rather wrecked, but that's why I had chosen these instead of any other shoes; they were already muddy and pretty much broken. I breathed in the smell of cleanliness and varnish. The room might need a coat of paint at some point, but otherwise, it was done.

"Benedict!" I shouted from where I was with my hands on my hips.  
"Yeah?" I heard him call back. A grin broke onto my face.  
"It's done! Everything is done!" I heard him shout with excitement and next thing I knew, he had thundered downstairs and was right beside me. He stared around the room, much like I had done, with a smile on his face. "Wow…" He muttered, "I wasn't expecting this to look so great…" He turned to me with a huge grin. "You've outdone yourself, Natalia!" He yelled with glee and picked me up and swung me around with happiness. I laughed at his silly antics and he put me down, his arms still around me.

"This is great, Natalia. We've got more space now, we could put anything in these rooms, anything we wanted…" He looked at me. I guess he didn't mind his arms around me… Squee! " What do you want in this room?" I gaped for a moment. Why would he want my opinion? He was the landlord.  
"U-um… Well… I don't know, it's your decision. You are the landlord after all." He shrugged.  
"Customer feedback, Natalia." He informed me with a little smirk. He'd been saying my name a lot recently, I noticed. I'm not sure if it was purposeful or not, but he was definitely saying it a lot more. About three times more than he normally would have. Don't get me wrong, I love it when he says my name.

"Well… I don't know about you, but I do love a good dance every now and then… We could have little events in here or something when there's more occupants here. This could be a music room! A piano would have to be here, of course, and anyone who plays another instrument will no doubt have their own… And there could be a space in the middle for dancing!" I was getting extremely excited at the idea of a music room with some dancing space. Dancing and playing were just a few of my passions. I suppose singing would be another one, and video games, and most certainly reading too…  
"That's an amazing idea, Natalia, but how will we get a piano in here? It's a little narrow, don't you think, the corridor?" There, he did it again, he said my name again, it's not my imagination, is it? He's said it pretty much every time he's spoken to me.

"Well… I'm not too bad at assembling stuff… I could try and build it…" Benedict looked at me in surprise. I shrugged. "It was difficult for me to stick to one job, they were all so boring. So I went into building and construction for a little while. I went into a music shop too. Instead of paying me with money, the man paid me with lessons. He said I was pretty good at making instruments, well, in building them, not actually creating each piece of wood and part of them, which requires a lot more skill than I could ever have." There we go, I was so excited that I was rambling.

Benedict just smiled fondly. "If you think you can then let's give it a shot. I'll pay for all of the things to be delivered and all that rubbish, and then we can get down to business, hm?" I nodded happily.  
"I'd better call in right now, then, hm?" I couldn't stop myself from nodding, even though I'm sure I looked impolite and impatient. He just laughed. "Come on, come upstairs for a glass of lemonade while I call in." I grinned and he pushed me lightly in front of him so I would go upstairs first. It was a little strange, I thought, so when we were halfway up the first flight of stairs, I looked behind me. His eyes snapped up to mine quickly and I saw a slight blush on his cheeks. I just smiled innocently at him and beckoned for him to hurry up. He just chuckled at me and sped up with me running in front of him. Had he been looking at my arse?

Before Benedict could open his door, there was a knock at the door. We looked at each other in shock and then we grinned at each other. We had a race to the door, and he barely beat me. He opened the door, threw a wink back at me, and looked at the potential customer. I stood behind him, out of sight, and listened to the conversation.

"Hey, I saw the sign in the window that said there was a place for rent here? I assumed that this was an apartment." A somewhat young male voice spoke. My interest was piqued and I chanced a look over Benedict's shoulder. He was good-looking, I guess, and he wore a band t-shirt with a leather jacket and baggy jeans. He was nowhere near as attractive as Benedict, but he was one of those guys that girls would sort of swoon over if he winked at them. He didn't notice me, I'm slightly thankful for.

"Yeah, of course, yes, there are a few rooms that you can pick from. Come on in." Benedict stepped aside and closed the door when the man had stepped in. "I'm Benedict Cumbe-."  
"I know who you are." The man grinned at him and Benedict nodded with an abashed smile. I tilted my head. "I'm Michael Hayden." He thrust out his hand and they shook, although from where I was, it appeared that Michael was trying to overpower Benedict slightly. Benedict frowned slightly at the force behind the shake but smiled nonetheless.

Michael then noticed me. "Oh, hello there, sorry, didn't see you there." He smiled warmly and came over to shake my hand. "I'm Michael. And you are?" I gulped as I took his hand slightly hesitantly. He shook it forcefully.  
"I'm Natalia Frame." He stooped to kiss my hand with a smile.  
"A pleasure to meet you." My cheeks burned and I avoided eye contact, instead looking at Benedict. He wasn't looking at us. I had to swallow the lump in my throat.

"I think staying here would be lovely. Can I see the other rooms?" He asked, slightly arrogantly. Benedict looked over with a small smile.  
"Of course, follow me. Natalia, do you want to come along?" He asked. Michael turned to me with an eyebrow raised, as if daring me to say no. Fuck you, Michael. You're not cool, in my opinion. Wow, I sound like a child.

I shook my head. "No, it's fine. Is it alright if I wait in your room? We still need to call in, after all." Benedict looked like he was slightly relieved at my decision and nodded. He beckoned for me to go first up the stairs and Benedict quickly followed, leaving Michael at the back. Benedict then unlocked the door for me, laid a gentle hand on the small of my back and pushed me in a little, as if to reassure me. "I'll be along in just a few minutes, once we get everything sorted with Michael." I nodded.  
"Don't be too long. I really want to make that call." I said cheekily, more cheekily than I normally would have dared. I didn't like the idea of Benedict being on his own with Michael, even though he was very capable of handling himself.

Benedict smiled and winked at me. "I'll be quick, darling." He shut the door and my face burned. That was the first time he had called me anything but Natalia. He'd given me a pet name. I wondered vaguely if it was due to Michael's presence, but either way, he'd called me 'darling'. Oh lordy, Tumblr, help, I'm absolutely in love with someone everyone loves…

Benedict was taking slightly longer than I thought he would, but I figured he was getting Michael to fill out forms and stuff; stuff I didn't have to do. Hehe. In the corner of his room, I noticed a violin. Mesmerised, I moved over to it slowly and reached out. It was of a beautiful varnished wood and was in perfect condition. The sheet music had a few fingerprint marks on them and the bow was a little tatty, but other than that, it was still perfect.

I picked it up carefully and the bow and looked at the door, listening for the sound of Benedict coming back. I knew he wouldn't be bothered if I looked at it and held it, but what if I played it? I've no idea… I decided to chance it; my curiosity was too much. Slowly, I played one of the notes. It was a long, drawn-out and mellow sound. Actually, it sounded almost mournful. A cheery song was eating me so I began 'Come On Eileen' by Dexy's Moonlight Runners. It cheered me up all the time (hence 'cheery song') and I started to really get into it. I turned around just after the chorus and nearly dropped the violin, as Benedict was staring at me with the door open. I couldn't see Michael behind him, so I presumed he was upstairs or something.

"U-um… I… I'm sorry, it was just there and I was curious and I couldn't help but look at it and I wanted to hold it and then I just really wanted to play it, I'm sorry for touching your stuff…" I trailed off because Benedict was just laughing at me. "Um…" But he just kept laughing. He managed to sober up. He then began walking over to me, still chortling a little.  
"Did you really think I would be bothered with you playing my violin? Especially that beautifully?" I blushed profusely and shrugged and then nodded. "Why would you think that?"  
"Well, it could be special to you or something… I should have asked first rather than just going over and picking it up." Benedict shook his head and put and arm around my shoulders reassuringly.

"I don't think I'm capable at being angry at you." He chuckled and gently took the violin away from me.  
"Will you play something?" I asked him, my cheeks still red. He looked at me and tilted his head a little.  
"What would you have me play?" I gulped a little. Something soulful, something beautiful, something from the heart. Something that will make me fall in love with you even more. Instead of saying that, I shrugged.  
"Anything really. Something…" I plucked up the courage to say what I had been thinking. "Something soulful. Something beautiful. Something from the heart." Okay, not all of it. Benedict made a noise, as though he had been holding a breath for a while and he stared at me. I couldn't, not even for the life of me, escape his eyes. It felt like he was staring into my soul. And then, just like that, the spell was broken. He smiled and nodded, placing the violin under his chin and preparing the bow for the first note. He looked at me again. "Do you like Tchaikovsky?" He questioned. I nodded. "This is part of his 'Swan Lake'. It's one of my favourites."

The first note was most certainly mournful, almost as though it were begging to be listened to. After a few seconds of his beautiful playing, I realised I knew this song. I had learned some of it on piano but this was amazing compared to anything I had ever learned. When he got to the crescendo, I think my soul and ovaries exploded simultaneously. His eyes had been fixed upon the instrument he was playing expertly, but now they were staring into my own and I was simply frozen. When the song ended, I still couldn't move. His eyes were still trained on mine as he lowered the instrument.

I blinked and cleared my throat, looking down. "What's your favourite song?" Benedict asked me, and I looked up again, my face no doubt red like a tomato.  
"U-um, it's Twist and Shout at the moment. I'm in a Beatles phase, I guess. I like Let It Be as well, and Yesterday." I rambled a little. Benedict tilted his head and appeared to be making a decision. He lifted the instrument again and I recognised the first few chords immediately. I laughed in delight and he grinned, never losing concentration. After a little while, I started dancing along to the violin version of Twist and Shout. I was twisting and everything. I did mention I love to dance, didn't I?

It felt so good to dance openly and have Benedict spinning around me, still playing his violin. It felt great to just let loose and dance like nothing was holding me back. Someone clearing their throat made us both stop, a little out of breath. Michael stood at the door, that we had not closed, and had a few papers in hand. He had an eyebrow raised at Benedict, and his eyes were roving all over my body that was still heaving with laboured breaths.

"I've signed the forms. I'll be moving in the day after tomorrow." Michael said, holding out the forms. Benedict handed the violin to me and took the forms from Michael.  
"Thank you, I'll make sure the room is ready for you. What time do you think you'll be here?" Benedict enquired professionally.  
"Um, about… 1-ish? In the afternoon, of course." Benedict smiled a little at the tiny joke. "I'll see you guys then. See ya, Benedict." Michael's eyes then swivelled to me. "I hope to see much more of you, Natalia. Much more." And then he turned and left. Much more of me? Just seeing me casually? I got the uneasy feeling that he meant more of my body, rather than me as a person…

Benedict shut the door and looked over at me. My face was, no doubt, extremely pink, but I didn't look away from Benedict. I plucked up the courage to speak first.  
"He seemed… nice." Benedict's gaze upon me seemed to harden ever so slightly.  
"Yes, he was… interesting." He replied, his voice taking on a slightly steely edge. Was he annoyed at Michael? A hopeful thought struck me. Is he… jealous? I wanted to see what he thought of Michael and me. I felt awful thinking about it, but I really wanted to know.

"Is he living next door to me, then?" I asked as casually as I could. Benedict nodded reluctantly. "What did he think about that? Did he ask where I lived?" I tried to make it sound just the slightest bit gushy. His posture straightened and he nodded.  
"Yes, he seemed excited at the thought of you living next to him." He replied monotonously. I couldn't keep going on like this, I could see Benedict didn't like him very much at all, but he couldn't just refuse him a home.

"Damn. I'd just moved everything in, and now I've got that guy living next door. If only I could move down here instead." I grumbled under my breath, not even acting this time. Benedict looked over to me with a slightly hopeful look about him.  
"You didn't like him?" I looked at him as though he were crazy.  
"Definitely not. Too vulgar for my tastes, most certainly." I said haughtily and he chuckled, seemingly at ease now. "He's not my type, that's for sure. I hope he doesn't stay for long." Benedict just kept laughing and he walked over happily. He was definitely happier that I didn't like Michael.

"Well, we've got another customer. I think this calls for a celebration. What do you think, darling?" I could feel myself go pink yet again, but I didn't look away. I held fast and stared back into his eyes.  
"That sounds wonderful. What do you propose, sweetheart?" I felt extremely daring when I said that and Benedict looked at me with such glee in his eyes, I almost swooned on the spot.  
"I'll take you out for dinner. Anywhere you like!" He exclaimed joyfully. I grinned at him and his offer. Going out for dinner sounded great, since I was pretty hungry. Wait… Is this supposed to be a date? How would I ask him if it was?

"Shall we make this tradition?" I asked cheekily. "Every time we gain a new occupant, we go out for dinner and celebrate." It wasn't the best way to find out, but it would give me an insight on whether he actually wouldn't mind taking me out a few times or not. It seemed he wouldn't mind; he nodded enthusiastically and gathered me up into his arms, bridal style, and spun us around. Holy shit…  
"That's a great idea, Natalia! Come on, it's 5 already, you need to go get dressed up." He didn't let me down, however, or stop spinning us.  
"Dressed up? We're not going somewhere fancy, are we?" I was not good doing fancy in public. Sure I was polite enough not to do anything stupid, but I'd feel so inferior to everyone who was wealthy enough to be there in the first place. Benedict stopped spinning us around.  
"What do you mean? Don't you want to go and eat somewhere nice?" He asked with some concern. "We don't have to if you don't want to. I mean, we can order some Chinese food if you want and have a pig out here, if you're uncomfortable going out somewhere 'fancy'." He made me feel guilty, though it was unintentional.  
"No, no, it's alright, I'll dress up for you if you want. We'll go somewhere nice." He tilted his head.

"Are you sure? We can go to a café if you want." He kept looking into my eyes and I just had to lower my own. "You're scared people will judge you." He murmured softly. I nodded mutely. Slowly, he let me down and hugged me to him. "We'll go to a little café and get some cake or something, okay?" I nodded into his shoulder. "But mark my words, I will take you somewhere fancy and you're going to look absolutely beautiful when you dress up for it." I blushed and smiled reluctantly into his shoulder.  
"If that's what you want, then alright." I whispered.  
"I want nothing more." Benedict mumbled back. After a few seconds he pulled back. "I'm going to treat you one of these days, and you'll love it. Now, off you pop. Go put something on that'll earn you jealous looks from everyone and we'll head off, okay?" I nodded and went to walk away before I managed to conjure up as much courage as I could to do what I had been aching to do for ages. I turned around quickly and kissed him on the cheek before pretty much running out of there. If I had seen his face, I would have seen a look of shock, admiration and joy. But I didn't.

I had changed into a summery dress, since that's what season it was. It was early June and it was getting really warm now. The dress was yellow with red cherries dotted all around it and was just above the knees. Of course, I had showered first and scrubbed away the varnish on my skin. I couldn't decide whether tights were a necessity or not, but I decided against them and wore red pumps with them. I had been so tempted to wear these new heels that I had gotten for the dress but I didn't know whether I was trying too hard. The heels were red and beige and had a bow on the toe. They were a vintage style, and quite high, and I loved them to pieces. But would I be trying too hard? I walked out of the room and leaned over the landing.

"Benedict?" I called. I heard his steps come closer and he came to the landing on his floor. He looked up. Unfortunately, I couldn't see what he was wearing. He couldn't see what I was wearing either, since the landing wasn't sectioned off by a bannister, but by a rib-height wall.  
"Yeah?"  
"How far away is where we're going?" I asked curiously.  
"It's just around the corner. I've been there a few times, it's really nice. I'm a regular and that's the only way they know me, which is the best thing, I think. That and their cakes are incredible." He explained. "Why do you ask?" I shrugged.  
"Didn't know whether to go for flats or heels. I'm still not too sure." I informed him. He answered immediately.  
"Go for the heels. I'd like to see you at my height for once." He said cheekily and winked before disappearing.  
"Oh, ha, ha, very funny." I said loudly but still laughed under my breath at him. Heels it is then.

"Are you ready, darling?" I heard Benedict shout up the stairs from the bottom floor. I slipped the heels on, making sure my toes weren't squished, and scurried to the stairs. "Yeah, just coming! Oh, hang on! Forgot a cardigan!" I ran back in and grabbed a short sleeved green cardigan and put it on. "Okay, coming!" And I ran down the stairs, or at least, tried to. I sort of went down sideways. Coming down the last flight of stairs was a little scary, because Benedict was waiting at the bottom of them, but I swallowed the fear of rejection and went down.

As I walked down, Benedict was slowly being revealed to me from the feet first, like I'm sure I was being shown to him as well. He was wearing smart shoes, dark skinny jeans, a shirt (with the top two buttons undone, someone somewhere must love me) and a leather jacket. Hnng… Benedict's face was just as attractive as it always was; illegally so. His lips were slightly parted and his eyes were slightly widened, which gave me a small clue that I looked at least alright to be seen in public.

"Are we ready?" I asked timidly as I came to the bottom of the stairs. Benedict was just the tiniest bit taller than me still, but it was an improvement from him being a head and bit taller than me in the first place. Benedict cleared his throat.  
"Uh, yeah, it looks like it." He led me to the door with a hand on the small of my back and opened it for me. He locked it behind us before turning to me. He held out his arm. I gladly took it with a little giggle. Again, I freaking giggled…

"By the way, Natalia…" He muttered, looking behind him.  
"Mmhmm?" I hummed. He then looked at me with a little smile.  
"You look stunning."

The meal was amazing and was cooked to a lovely standard actually. We had a bowl of nachos for a starter and spaghetti for the main. Most of the conversation consisted of books and what we liked to do in our spare time, and what we wanted in the music room and the other room downstairs. There were some points where either I or Benedict would be distracted by something or other and we'd zone back in again with a clueless expression. To be honest, it was whenever we were looking at each other, but I'm sure he was just doing that because, you know, when you zone out, you look at one thing and then you look past it. Yes, I'm sure that's what Benedict was doing, and I won't believe anything else.

Dessert arrived and it was a large sundae that we shared. It was a mixture of chocolate, vanilla and strawberries, of course, as that was our combined favourites. Benedict refused to let me know how much it all came to, and even went ahead to ask the staff to tape over the prices on my menu so I couldn't sneakily make sure that I was buying cheap things. I had tried to guess what was the least expensive but it was a little difficult with everything looking so delicious. So I just went with whatever Benedict had.

Anyway, back to present, we were sharing the sundae when Benedict started asking me about work. "So, where exactly do you work? You're gone before I get up most weekdays and you come back in so exhausted that you can only say goodnight and then collapse on your bed. I've been curious for a while now." Well, working at a bar is tiring…  
"I'm a barmaid. It doesn't sound taxing, and it's not a job I want to do forever, that's for sure, but it's good pay, I guess. I'm almost always told stay back and fill in for another person's shift. We've never had a full staff day since I've been working there." I told him. "The uniform's a bit slutty and irritating, and I need to bring it back for a wash tomorrow, but I'll probably be back later than usual." Benedict tilted his head.

"Later than usual? Later than midnight?" I shrugged my shoulders.  
"I don't usually do all-night shifts, but my employer warned me that a lot of people were off on holiday, so I'd have a lot of shifts to run and lots of work to do. I'll be working in the back just as much as I'll be working in the front."  
"So you work at the bar or unloading crates or what?"  
"I mostly work at the bar and go around cleaning tables. It's a pretty good pub. They sell meals and everything, and they have karaoke night and stuff. Every Sunday, I have to perform 3 songs to the customers as well." That seemed to pique his interest. He leaned forward to catch a strawberry before it fell off of his spoon but he remained leaning forwards.  
"You perform? Do you dance? Play?" He questioned.  
"I play and sing." I answered. "Usually just singing, but if I find a song on piano that I know the words to, I'll play it."  
"How many songs do you perform on Sunday, again?"  
"Well, it starts at about 6 and ends at about 9, not to mention I'm not the only performer. I usually perform 3 times a night, sometimes 4 if I have an encore, and those tend to be quite rare, for any of the performers." Benedict leaned back in his seat, having had his fill of ice cream and information.  
"I'll have to come and see you some time." He murmured. I blushed.  
"Oh, no, you don't need to, it's just a thing that earns me a little more money anyway."

"I'd like to see you perform, if that's alright." He insisted sincerely, leaning forwards again. "I'll admit, I'm somewhat captivated by this, and I'd really love to hear you sing and play… If you don't mind." How could I possibly say no to that? He was looking at me with such puppy dog eyes, I could hardly say no, could I?  
"Oh, alright then." He immediately grinned. "But only the once. If you don't like it, don't say I didn't warn you." I grumbled a little. He smirked and asked if I had finished. I said that I had and he paid. We got up and left quickly. Night had fallen by now and we decided to walk home briskly.

We got in and locked up, heading upstairs rather wearily. I was in front once more, and yet again, when I looked back, his eyes quickly moved back up to mine and again, there was pink dusted across his cheeks. I had a sneaking feeling he'd been watching my arse, but I couldn't judge him. It was probably my imagination anyway. Why would he find me at all attractive? The only reason he could possibly have been looking at my arse was if he was wondering why my arse is so close to his face. Or he could be wondering why on Earth he didn't go first or something like that. Yeah, that was probably it.

When we got to his door, I paused a little before continuing to go upstairs. "Natalia." Benedict said softly. I turned and looked at him.  
"Yes?" I replied.  
"Did you enjoy tonight?" I smiled and nodded. He seemed to sigh with relief. "Good. I'm glad. I'd… I'd really like to do this again sometime." He looked like he was trying to say something but it wouldn't come out. I tilted my head and came back down the few stairs I had gone up and stood in front of him. "What is it?" I asked quietly. He looked at me and just shook his head.  
"No, it's nothing." I felt my gut clench in disappointment. "I really am happy that you're here with me, Natalia." And then my heart soared a little. "Goodnight." I smiled and hugged him close, which he returned immediately.  
"I had a wonderful time. Thank you, Benedict. Goodnight." I kissed him on the cheek again and headed upstairs, his hand slightly taking hold of mine but then falling away limply. I never wanted to kiss him that badly in my life, but I doubted he'd want that at all. I didn't hear him open his door until I opened my own.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Benedict and Natalia agree to go to a wedding together and help the new occupant move in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shirtless Benedict in this one ;D A fun chapter to write and hopefully to read!

I woke up the next morning feeling somewhat refreshed and happy, which is a good sign, since I'd be working the entire day and through some of the night too. I sprang out of bed (are you all jealous?) and pulled on some casual clothes; jeans, blouse and a cardigan. A jacket wouldn't be necessary, as the sun was already beating down on me, though it was only 10-ish in the morning. I decided a smoothie would be a lovely way to start the day, so I grabbed the ingredients. I had stolen a few of my mother's cookbooks, Nigella Express being one of them, and was always looking for quick breakfasts. In the end, I went for a banana, coffee and chocolate smoothie with a little bit of honey.

Once I'd thrown everything into the blender and then poured the results in a glass, I drank it, savouring the sweet and refreshing taste. There was a knock on my door and I tilted my head. I walked over and opened it to reveal Benedict with my green cardigan. I frowned at it. "You left this in the café last night. I went down there to get some coffee and the guy behind the bar said you'd left your cardigan." He explained. I gasped and nearly dropped my smoothie.  
"Oh, thank you, Benedict!" He handed it to me and I took it gratefully. "Did you get your coffee?" He shook his head.  
"No, I figured I would bring you your cardigan first." I looked at the ingredients still on the side.  
"Would you like a smoothie? I have enough to make you one. I've heard I'm alright at them too." I offered shyly. Benedict smiled.  
"If you're offering, I'd be happy to sample one." I beckoned him in and shut the door before racing back over to the counter.

"You don't have any allergies, do you?" I asked as Benedict sat on the sofa.  
"Not a one." He replied. I nodded with relief. I'd hate to force an allergic reaction onto him. I fixed up the smoothie again and handed him the glass, then going to wash up the blender and my own finished glass. I made sure to watch him sip it for the first time. His face was surprised, but he appeared to like it. He smiled up at me. "It's lovely, Natalia." He complimented. I blushed and smiled.  
"I'm glad." I responded.

When his finished his glass, I washed that up as well and checked the time. It was 20 past 10, and I had to be at work at quarter to 11. I gasped and swore loudly, nearly dropping the wet slippery glass on my foot. "Is everything alright?" Benedict asked with a concerned frown.  
"I have to be at work at quarter to!" I exclaimed and dried up the glass as quickly as I could.  
"How far away is it?" He asked quickly, getting up to help me put the dried things away.  
"It's a few roads down but I have some errands to do first, I have to pick up Mrs Nathan's cat and then grab some food for it, I need to get some cat treats as well, I then need to bring it back here, make sure it's fine on its own, then I have to go grab Marchelle's wedding dress from the dry cleaners because it's her wedding in three days," I gasped suddenly, "And I still have no dress or date for the wedding, oh god, this is going to be a disaster of a day and I won't be back until half 1 tomorrow morning!" I groaned and sagged, stamping my feet a little before standing up straight and blushing.

"Uh… Sorry you had to hear that… Um…" Benedict put a hand on my shoulder comfortingly.  
"I'll go pick up the cat and bring it back here along with the food. I can also get Marchelle's dress if you want?" I shook my head.  
"She works with me, I may as well pick it up, though I have to walk in the opposite direction first and then walk twice the amount I would normally have to…"  
"How about I pick up the dress and just deliver it to your work. Which pub do you work at?" I sighed in defeat.  
"The 'Maids' A' Milking'." I mumbled. He tilted his head.  
"Interesting name. I look forward to seeing you there. Now off you go!" He ushered us out of the apartment (I had to quickly lock it behind me) and we ran out of the door, barely saying goodbye to each other before heading off. I quickly turned around.  
"Benedict!" He was halfway down the street already.  
"Yeah?" He said, turning back to me.  
"Thank you!" I could see him grin from where I was.  
"Any time, darling!" My heart just twittered a little.

Almost as soon as I got in and changed, Marchelle swooped in like a vulture. "Where's the dress, is it okay? Is it fine? It's not creased, is it? You don't have it with you? Where is it? Oh god, you didn't lose it, did you?!" I put my hand over her mouth before she could continue speaking. When she looked like she was going to be quiet, I removed my hand and continued wiping down a table.  
"Relax, Marchelle. A friend of mine is picking it up for me instead, since I had a lot on my plate this morning. I'm going to be really busy today, unlike you, so I have to make the most of this." Marchelle was going to be leaving early, as she needed to discuss last minute preparations for the reception party. I sighed.  
"I guess… What's wrong?" She asked curiously, a frown embedded into her brow.  
"I still have no idea who I'm going with to your wedding. You demanded that I should have someone." I lowered my eyes. A certain landlord flashed across my mind, but he's done so much already, I couldn't bear to ask him. Marchelle shrugged her shoulders.  
"Well… do you have any guy friends who are free?" I hesitated.

"I guess I do, but he's done loads for me already… Besides… He wouldn't waste any time doing that for me. He must be so sick of all the favours he's been doing for me." I sighed guiltily.  
"Who is sick of doing favours for you?" A deep voice I would never live to forget sounded from behind us. We turned around to find Benedict holding the dress in its protective packaging with a little smile on his face. Marchelle gaped at him and gave him the elevator eyes while I elbowed her in the ribs. She just smiled at me suspiciously.

"U-um… Uh, no one." Benedict raised an eyebrow to show he didn't believe me, but he didn't press. He handed the dress to Marchelle.  
"I presume this is yours?" He presumed correctly. She nodded, still gaping a little, and took the dress from him.  
"Thank you very much… You don't happen to be free on Friday, do you?" She asked. I frowned at her. She's getting married then, she's not asking for a date, is she? That's a bit low, even for Marchelle, who had no qualms with flirting with other guys. Benedict puffed out cheeks and looked to his right, as though trying to remember.  
"No, I'm pretty sure I'm free Friday. Why do you ask?" He questioned curiously. Marchelle looked at me with a smirk. I frowned at her even more.  
"Well, Natalia here doesn't have a date for my wedding, and she refuses to even ask anyone because she thinks it'll be a burden for them to take her. She said one guy does loads of favours for her… I guess that's you…" MARCHELLE!

I slapped her shoulder. "Marchelle! You're so… sneaky! Go and get on with your work, you sneaky… thing." I scolded her. She just laughed musically at me and ran away before I could slap her again. When I looked back, Benedict was already looking at me.  
"I, uh… I like your… uniform." Oh god, no… I looked down at what I wearing, just remembering what my uniform was like. It was like a sort of maid's outfit, to fit with the pub's name, and it was a bit on the short side too. I blushed and shuffled a little.  
"Funnily enough, I don't…" I muttered. Benedict smiled fondly at me.  
"Of course you wouldn't. But you really do look lovely in that dress." I blushed even more and thanked him quietly.

"The cat's in your apartment at the moment, all settled down. He'll be excited when you get back, although he is a bit feisty when you try and pick him up…" He showed me his hands which had a few scratches down them. I gasped and took them gently.  
"Oh god, I'm so sorry, I should have picked up the cat instead, have you disinfected these yet?" I rambled worriedly. He chuckled and shook his head. A few heads were turning at the fuss I was making but I ignored them. Some of the small groups of women gasped at who he was.

"Well, Maid Natalia… Think you could patch me up?" He looked at me sincerely with a slight teasing tone in his voice. Is he… flirting? I smiled and nodded.  
"Of course, I could. Come on, I'll fix it up in the back." I led him by the hands (gently) to the back where Marchelle was hanging the dress up. She noticed us coming, grinned and ran upstairs, shouting behind her: "Don't forget to use a condom!" I went extremely red-faced and shouted up at her to mind her own business or else I wouldn't take her shift for the fourth time that week. She merely remarked: "Oops." And disappeared up the stairs.

"Oh, one of these days, I'm going to murder that girl…" I muttered and Benedict merely chuckled. "Don't listen to anything that girl says. She has this dream that she'll hook me up with the perfect man or something. I'm sorry about her…" Benedict tilted his head.  
"No need to apologise." He assured, "And I can take you to wedding, if you want. I assume there's a reception too." I looked at him in surprise.  
"You would take me? Even though you've helped me so much already? Even though I'll be an embarrassment to you?" He can't possibly be serious, can he? He nodded, so apparently he was.

"Of course, I'd love to." He grinned. I just stared at him.  
"You're… amazing, you know. You're just… You're a great friend, Benedict." I hugged him quickly and grinned at him. His eyes seemed to have a slightly saddened tint to them, but it was replaced by happiness after the hug.  
"You said you didn't have a dress…?" I shook my head disappointedly.  
"No, none of the dresses that I can find are ones that I'd feel comfortable wearing to a wedding."  
"I'll find you something." I looked at him with shock for what felt like the seventh time that day.

"You would find me a dress?" He nodded.  
"Is it so hard to believe?" He questioned. I nodded fervently.  
"Yes, it really is. You've been so kind to me… But I can't allow you to do that. I've got to find one for myself, because otherwise you'll have been sent into a fruitless mission to find me something that'll look at least presentable on me." He frowned a little.  
"Well then… I'll come with you when you go to find one. I've got to go shopping at some point anyway. Although… I'd prefer if we didn't stop off in London for shopping, if that's alright." He was insistent on coming with me, on escorting me to a wedding, on doing all of these things for me. I had to find out why.

"Why are you doing all of this for me? All of these nice things that make me feel guilty to the pit of my stomach but I still feel so grateful to you? Why are you being so kind to me?" I asked him. He inhaled deeply and watched me intensely. He looked like he wanted to say something, but he just couldn't get the words out.  
"I think… One of these days, I'll tell you. And you'll probably run screaming in the other direction." I tilted my head.  
"Well, so long as it isn't something like you wanting to kill me in my sleep once you've gained my trust, then I don't think that's going to happen…" He laughed a little and sobered with a warm smile on his face.  
"You're so adorable…" He mumbled, and then cleared his throat while I blushed.

"U-um… W-would you like me to treat the scratches now?" He nodded, avoiding eye contact and held out his hands for me. I grabbed the first aid kit from the cupboard under the stairs and made him sit on the steps. Slowly, I started to disinfect them. He didn't make a sound or flinch at all, which I guess comes from doing pain scenes in many of his masterpieces. I lathered some cream over the cuts carefully and made sure it was just a thin coating. I rolled up his sleeves a little to see if there were any more and I did the same to the few I found up there. Once I was finished, the scratches looked a lot less red and less painful too.

When I looked up at Benedict, he was already watching me and I couldn't look away. I think, although it may have been my imagination, that he was leaning in slowly. Maybe I was doing the same, I've no idea, but whatever was happening, we were interrupted by Marchelle coming down the stairs again, her footsteps (though usually quiet) were deafening in the silence that had been surrounding us in our little 'moment'. "Oh… Sorry, I'll just… Um…" She saw the death glare I was giving her and Benedict's slightly irked but surprised and confused expression and ran upstairs away from the looks.

I sighed and straightened up. He stood as well and walked down the few stairs he had been on and cleared his throat. "Um, well, it was nice to meet your friend. I'll go and make sure the cat is doing alright." He mumbled. I nodded.  
"Thank you for the errands you ran for me." I said as sincerely as I could while still trying to recover from the possible 'almost kiss' that we shared. He nodded and after a moment of hesitation, he pulled me into a hug, his face buried into my hair. I returned it after getting over the surprise. He pulled away and kissed my cheek quickly before leaving with a wave and a blush. There was no way that he was blushing more than me though.

"I saw that…" A sneaky voice spoke from above. I looked up the stairs and found Marchelle spying over the bannister on the landing. "You like him, don't you?" I shook my head.  
"Pfft, no, of course not. He's just… my landlord." I mumbled the last part dejectedly, sighed, and went about doing my job, ignoring the wolf-whistles I got from bending over to clean the tables.

It was half past 3 in the morning by the time I escaped. I was 2 hours later than I had hoped. That made today… Wednesday… Today that shady guy would be moving in… What was his name? Michael? I think so. I was too tired to think straight. And then the day after tomorrow, Marchelle would be having her wedding and I would be going to the party afterwards as well with Benedict as my date… Oh lordy… Well, this meant that tomorrow would have to be shopping for a dress and wedding present. I was awful at deadlines and organisation, I think you can tell.

I stumbled into the apartment wearily, absent-mindedly closing the door and locking it. I tried my very hardest to sneak up the stairs without making any creaks, but it was difficult when you were dead on your feet. There was an especially loud creak and I groaned quietly. No surprise to me, moments later, Benedict opened his door. Again, he had no shirt on and he didn't even appear tired. I blinked sleepily at him. "Sorry…" I mumbled and blushed profusely.  
"Natalia, you look exhausted…" Benedict stated and quickly grabbed my waist before I could just collapse and fall asleep right there.  
"Yeah… I guess…" I muttered into his bare shoulder. I think I felt him shiver a little, but it must have been my tired mind imagining things.

"You guess? Come on, I'll take you upstairs before you pass out on the spot." He lifted me up into his arms and took me up the stairs without even groaning at my weight.  
"No… It's okay, I can…" I yawned, "Walk…" Benedict merely chuckled at me and continued walking up the stairs, cradling me close to him.  
"Have you got your key?" I fumbled around in my bag that held my previous clothes in and found the key in my jeans pocket. I handed it to him and he unlocked the door with only a little bit of difficulty. He managed to manoeuvre the door open with his hip on the handle and closed it with his bare foot.

The cat was curled up on my bed and raised its head when we entered. I looked at it with a little glare. "You're a naughty boy for scratching Benedict." The cat lowered its head, as though ashamed. "He's been so good to me and you go and scratch him." He covered his furry little face with his paws. His name was Frenchie, for some reason. He didn't appear very French, but maybe it's just me. Benedict chuckled a little and lowered me onto the bed. Frenchie crept up the bed and curled into my stomach. I petted him softly and smiled up at Benedict, who had a strange smile on his face. My brain interpreted it as a freaked out smile, but my heart said something like 'no, it's adoration. Listen to me, for once, will you?' Like hell I will.

"I'll lock the door behind me and push the key under the door, alright?" Benedict assured me. I nodded and yawned.  
"Thank you, Benedict." He smiled down at me and stroked my hair, and I was almost too far gone to notice.  
"It's alright, sweetheart. Good night." He murmured and despite the heat of the room, I shivered.  
"Good night, darling." I whispered before closing my eyes. I felt something that was warm and moist on my forehead, and he stroked my hair one last time before leaving, locking the door, sliding the key under the door, and going downstairs. It felt suspiciously like he had kissed me on the forehead… He called me sweetheart…

I woke up at about 20 past 12 with a groan. Frenchie was no longer curled into my stomach, and, in fact, he was mewling rather loudly. I squinted through the sunshine and saw that he was pawing at an empty water bowl. I gasped and tried to get out of bed quickly, but my body was tangled up in the duvet. I fell to the floor with a huge thud and a loud yelp, still caught up in the duvet. Frenchie stared over at me with a tilted head and then continued to paw at the bowl. I rolled my eyes and sighed.

"Natalia?" I heard Benedict ask. I looked up to find his head in the room with the door partially open. I frowned.  
"Didn't you lock that?" He shrugged sheepishly.  
"Yeah, I did… But I heard the cat miaowing about food, and I figured you would still be in bed… So I used my skeleton key to open the door and feed him. I, uh, I guess I forgot to lock the door behind me. Sorry about that." I shook my head with a little smile.  
"No, it's fine. If you hadn't come in, Frenchie would be starving." He looked at the cat.  
"Frenchie, huh? Doesn't look French to me." He muttered. I laughed.  
"I was thinking that too." I grinned. He looked back over at me and frowned with an amused smile.

"Why are you on the floor?" He questioned, chortling before he even got an answer. I laughed sheepishly.  
"Uh, I fell out of bed… Frenchie wanted more water so I tried to get out of bed to hurry up and do it…" Benedict chuckled and came over to help me up. I pushed the duvet aside to try and get up as well. He crouched, saw something, froze and then looked away with a blush on his face. I frowned and looked where he had been looking. I was still in my uniform, and the hem was above my hips, showing my stripy underwear. Oh. God. I squeaked and covered myself up quickly.

"Oh, god, I'm so sorry, I didn't realise that had happened, oh god, that's so embarrassing, I did not plan that, I swear, oh my god, just… arrrghhh…" I rambled on and kept apologising. We were both blushing like hell but he managed to smile through it. I was flapping my hands and everything to try and ward off embarrassment (which never works, by the way), and he just grabbed my hands and stopped them mid-flap.

"Natalia, it's alright. I would never think that you 'planned' anything like that. It was just a mistake." A mistake? I guess so… He must have really regretted seeing that, oh lordy, I am so unattractive. He appeared to berate himself for saying that. "Well, not a mistake, m-more like… Um, it was an accident, I mean… You didn't mean to do it, it's fine, I, uh… Um…" Again, he looked like he wanted to say something to me, but his throat just refused to work. "Sorry, it was my fault for even looking anyway." I shook my head immediately.  
"I should have at least checked myself in any case." I muttered, angry at myself for allowing Benedict, a really nice guy who would never be interested me, to see that part of me and show him something that neither of us wanted. But you do want it. What? Just a little bit. No… You want him to see some of you. You're in love. Yeah, but I don't want him to see my underwear! No… You want him to see under it. SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP!

"Uh, I'll go and fill Frenchie's water bowl." Benedict mumbled and helped me up quickly before going to Frenchie's aid. My little mental conversation was affecting me and I tried not to let it show. The letterbox made a noise downstairs.  
"I'll go." I offered and left before Benedict could say anything more. I tried not to run down the stairs away from the scene upstairs, from the war inside my head, instead walking briskly. I reached the bottom floor and picked up the post. It was all addressed to Benedict so I began to make my way upstairs but then there was a knock at the door. Well, that was some timing… With the letters still in my hand, I opened the front door. Michael was standing there with a huge heap of stuff behind him. I mean, huge. I thought I had loads of stuff with my 15 boxes, but Michael just took the cake.

He must have had about 30 boxes with him, easily!

He gave me the (very obvious) elevator eyes and winked at me. "Hey, Natalia. I'm moving in next to you. Excited?" He asked arrogantly. I stood frozen for a moment. Now is the time to show him that you won't be pushed around or flirted with.  
"Not particularly." I said as loftily as I could, "It's been relatively quiet on my floor, and I hope it stays that way." Michael merely grinned, as though satisfied with my reaction.  
"I'm loving the outfit. It's gorgeous on you, you know? Really brings out your finer aspects." I cocked an eyebrow.  
"My finer aspects?" He froze for a second before nodding.  
"Yeah, like your eyes and… you know, you." Huh.

I called up the stairs. "Benedict, Michael's here!" I heard Benedict come to the landing and I looked up at him.  
"Sorry, what did you say?" He asked. Frenchie appeared next to him, sitting on the wall.  
"I said that Michael's here with his stuff. Here, let me come up to you." I turned to Michael. "Wait for a moment, will you?" He nodded and I could feel his slimy gaze following my bare legs as I went up the stairs. As soon as I got to the top, I pulled Benedict into my room a little more, Frenchie following us.

"He has about 30 boxes! That's twice as many as I had!" I exclaimed with surprise. Benedict's eyebrows shot up but he shrugged.  
"Looks like there'll be a lot for me to lift." I shook my head.  
"Not just you. If you feel it's your obligation to help him move in as landlord, that's alright (although I don't particularly like it), but I'll help out too. Just give me a few minutes to get changed and I'll be right there." Benedict looked at me with a slightly disapproving expression.

"Natalia, that's hardly necessary. You relax up here and I'll come and see when we're done, okay?" I shook my head. I felt a little more… feisty today? I felt less shy, and I was determined to show Benedict that I wasn't just a shy mouse. "No, I'm going to help you whether you like it or not. You're not changing my mind, Benedict." He sighed, put his hands on his hips and shook his head.  
"Fine… Just… Fine. Don't wear anything… too short. I don't like the looks he gives you." He mumbled in defeat. He's jealous. Shh, you.  
"Well, that's kind of out of the question…" Benedict frowned at me, "I still haven't done any washing yet, and all I've got left is shorts and really long skirts…" I felt really guilty for doing that to him, but all of my clothes were dirty. He sighed again.  
"Alright… I don't want you to trip over on the skirts. Alright, I'll see you in a bit." He gave a little smile. I nodded and hugged him.  
"Yup, see you in a bit!" He laughed and left, shutting the door behind him. I looked at Frenchie. "I'm going to be so busy these next few days."

I staggered into my room, not even bothering to shut the door, and flopped onto the sofa with exhaustion. Today had been so long! I had been wearing a red and white striped top with the sleeves pulled up and denim shorts with tennis shoes and I was still sweltering! We'd been pushing everything upstairs all day long, only stopping for a break about 5 hours in and then continuing for another 3. I was absolutely knackered. And Michael would not stop flirting or staring at my arse. It was a pain in said arse, thank you very much.

As soon as I went down there, he turned the charm on and kept staring at my body. All I did was watch Benedict when he did that. Benedict only noticed a few times, because he was never looking at us when it happened. I assumed it was usually accidental, but I noted that one time he had been looking directly at me when Michael did that, to discern my reaction, and then looked away immediately when Michael had put a hand on me casually or something. I'd usually subtly shrug the hand off me, but sometimes I wouldn't be able to avoid it, and it was a nightmare.

Oh, there was one point as well, where I was pushing a box up the stairs and I slipped a little. Michael, as he was behind me, stooped to catch me, but grabbing my arse. You just do not do that. I turned around and glared at him and all Michael said was: "It was all I could grab." I glared at him even more forcefully and turned back to the front to find Benedict staring down at us. I looked at him apologetically and tried to show as much of my emotions as possible. He appeared to nod, and his vision was set on Michael. It looked like they were challenging each other.

All in all, today was so tiring and all I wanted was a nice hot shower. I crawled off of the sofa and managed to get into the bathroom without smacking my head anywhere. I made sure there was a towel there and turned on the shower and began to strip down. The hot water felt amazing on my, no doubt, bruised body thanks to falling down the stairs a few times and carrying boxes in my aching arms. The heat undid all the knots in my muscles and joints and I only realised just how tense I had been when all the knots were gone. I sighed in relief and dried myself off when everything was done. I placed the clothes in a dirty washing basket, making a mental note to do some washing after shopping with Benedict tomorrow, and walked into my room in search of clothes, the towel still wrapped around my body.

I screamed a little and nearly let go of my towel and Michael stared at me. "Yeah, sorry about that. Your door was open so I figured I'd take a little look around." He said with very little sincerity.  
"You can't just walk into my room!" I shouted at him, gripping the towel tightly around me and moving behind the bathroom door. He shrugged.  
"Kinda did. You've got a real nice place. Comfortable bed by the looks of it too. Double bed. Queen sized. Easily fit 2 people." His eyes slid back to mine at the last sentence and they were dark and lustful.  
"GET OUT!" I screamed at him. He stumbled back a little at the force of my voice and darted into his own room, Benedict barely missing him, I could tell from his stomp of his foot and slam of Michael's door.  
"If you try that again, Michael, you can move somewhere else, alright?" Benedict shouted through the door. Michael didn't reply to him. Benedict then walked into my room and I sighed with relief, exiting the bathroom again. I felt much safer with him near.

"What did he do?" Benedict asked me darkly.  
"I just came out of the bathroom and he was there staring around the apartment. He started talking about my bed." I shuddered at his innuendos. Benedict scowled for the first time that I'd met him.  
"What did he say?" He growled. I gulped. As much as angry!Benedict scared me, it was a bit of a turn-on too…  
"He talked about it looking comfortable, and that it was a queen sized double bed. He said it would 'easily fit 2 people'." I shuddered again. Benedict sighed and shut the door, immediately making me feel better.

"Are you alright?" He asked with concern, walking over to me. I had mostly forgotten that I was in a towel and still dripping wet.  
"Yes… Just startled. He better not do that again, or so help me, I will hit him next time." Benedict chuckled.  
"Not if I beat you to it." I laughed with him and we sobered for a moment. "I thought he'd hurt you. Or worse, that he'd…" He broke eye contact. Turning around for a few seconds, I quickly fastened my towel so that it wouldn't fall without support. I turned around and hugged Benedict softly so as not to get him wet. He returned it much harder than I thought he would, but I wasn't complaining. It felt… right, to be squished up against him, and in his arms. He didn't let go for another 2 minutes.

When he did, he looked down at his white t-shirt and found it pretty much sopping wet thanks to the towel, my skin and my hair. He chuckled at it and I giggled a little. "Oops…" I mumbled with a small blush. He just shrugged and pulled his shirt off. Yes, you read that correctly. He took his shirt off in front of me. I tried my hardest not to look, I really did, but I had to. I'd seen him topless 2 times already, but I just couldn't help but stare again. He didn't notice, as he was still inspecting the wet patches on his shirt. When he did glance sideways at me (with a small sexy smirk), I quickly averted my gaze and cleared my throat. He chuckled throatily at me, dropped the now useless shirt and hugged me again. Oh god, he has no shirt on and I'm in a towel, oh god, my ovaries are about ready to explode. Was it just me or was he tracing small circles into my back? It must just be my imagination; my brain was in over-load.

He pulled back and grinned at me with a cheeky wink. "Perhaps I should let you get dressed now." Oh god, I'd never have thought I'd hear Benedict say that to me… But you wish it was a different context. I DO NOT. Much. Maybe. NO. Hnng…  
"Y-yeah… Probably." He looked at me.  
"Probably?" He had a little smirk on his face. He is flirting. He most certainly is and you know it.  
"I-I mean… Um… It'd be a bad-good idea to let me get changed." What are you saying?! He took a little step closer to me. His front was brushing mine, we were that close. I could feel myself sweating, and there was an infuriating drop of water that I could feel trickling down my throat.  
"It'd be a bad idea?" He murmured. His eyes left mine to look at something on my flesh, and I assumed it was the water droplet.  
"U-uh…" It was getting dangerously close to my cleavage.  
"Or did you mean good idea? I'm not well-known for my good ideas, Natalia." Dear lord, my name from his mouth was the sweetest sin in that tone.  
"I-I meant it would be a good idea… Probably…" Pull yourself together! "I mean, I should get changed!" Benedict smirked at me and leaned in a little closer, brushing the water droplet away where it had been just above the top of the towel.  
"That's a shame; I was having fun there." He winked, kissed my cheek and walked out, giving a cheery wave just before leaving and closing the door, as though he hadn't just tried to seduce me.

I managed to stagger over to my drawers and get into my pyjamas before going to bed. Benedict Cumberbatch was unbelievably sexy when he was flirting. He was flirting, right? Of course he was. He implied that you shouldn't get dressed. He wanted to see you in that towel. AND he took his shirt off right in front of you to seduce you. I'm not imagining this, you know. It's not all in your head. He likes you. A lot.

If only that were true…


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the new occupant is forced to leave and Benedict and Natalia attend the wedding.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quite fun to write and I quite like to read this chapter too. I'm very fond of my characters Ingrid and Joy and they'll crop up in the sequel if I write it.

When I got up, I had been in one of the worse moods possible, because Michael had moved in next door to me and now I'd have to deal with him. Frenchie had hissed at my bad mood and I had hissed right back at him. He simply went back to mewling for food on the counter. Because I was in a rotten mood, I tried to pick Frenchie up to get him off the counter. He wasn't having any of it and he scratched my hands about three times before I finally got the message and just left him. I had cursed at him and fed him, making unnecessary noises to fuel my frustration.

My anger died down about half as much when I remembered the scene between Benedict and me the previous night. I had mulled it over before going to sleep and figured that he had been flirting and that he was interested in me. However, as soon as I woke up, I decided I was imagining things. Maybe I had dreamed that whole scene… Did Michael really just waltz into my room? Thinking about it now, it was something awful to do that even he wouldn't try. So, realistically, I must have dreamed the entire scene of the t-shirt removal and me in a towel and everything.

I would have gone through the rest of my life believing that if I had not noticed something white and crumpled on the floor. I frowned, walked over and picked it up. After straightening it out, I realised what it was and the colour left my face for a few seconds before flooding it with red. Benedict's white top was a little creased, but dry, and most certainly real. I told you he liked you. No, there must be a reasonable explanation as to why this is here… Yeah, there is. The scene yesterday was real, and he does like you. No, stop being stupid. You're just stupid. You shouldn't talk about yourself that way. Oh, shut up. I can't be having arguments with myself this early in the morning. Suit yourself. But the first person to back out of a fight is usually the wrong one. I'm not backing out! I'm… banishing you. … No.

Getting back on track, there was a knock at the door. Frenchie's head raised and he hissed a little. I frowned at him. Ignoring the cat's behaviour, I went to the door, thinking it was Benedict. It wasn't. I opened it and Michael was half leaning on the door jamb already. He gave me a cocky grin and winked at me unpleasantly. "Hey, sweetheart." I narrowed my eyes at him.  
"You don't get to call me 'sweetheart'." I said simply. He shrugged it a little.  
"Who does?" He asked vaguely.  
"Benedict." I stated. He froze for a moment, as though not actually expecting an answer, nor one concerning Benedict, but continued annoying me anyway.

"Yeah, I just thought I'd come here and apologise for walking into your room when you weren't even in there." Pfft, doubt it. "It was rude and I was invading your privacy." He's got a shit-eating smirk on his face, for fuck's sake.  
"Funnily enough, I don't believe that this really is an apology." I said monotonously. He sighed heavily.  
"What can I do to make it up to you? Shall I take you out for dinner?" I shook my head immediately.  
"No, can't do dinner, sorry."  
"How about… A movie?"  
"Nope, not available."  
"I haven't even said when…"  
"Still not available."

Michael frowned at my lack of cooperation. Serves him right. "What do you mean 'not available'?" Wow, he really doesn't get it, does he?  
"It means that I'm unable to accept any invitations extended by you now or in the near future." I had to spell it out for him? This guy was making me all bitchy. This was going to be a terrible day. Normally, I wouldn't even dream of being this horrid, but something about Michael just set me off.  
"Why not? I mean, you're single, you're living alone-."  
"What makes you think I'm single?" I asked before I could stop myself. Shit. His eyebrows shot up.  
"You're not single?" I didn't say anything. "Are you shagging the landlord?" Again, I didn't dare respond. Unfortunately, he figured it out. "Ah… I see… You're in love with him… And he doesn't know." I gulped and blinked away some tears. "You're in love with him and he doesn't love you back." I already knew that, did he have to go and say it?

"Go away." I mumbled. Michael put a hand to his ear.  
"Sorry, what was that?" He mocked.  
"Go away." I tried to say it firmly but it came out as a whisper.  
"Didn't quite catch that, Natty."  
"Go. Away." I managed to sound stern and like I meant it, but he didn't get the picture.  
"I'm sorry, I just can't hear you, would you mind speaking a little lou-."  
"GO AWAY!" I screamed at him and pushed him out of my doorway before slamming it. I heard him laugh and it just made me even angrier.

I could hear footsteps thundering up the stairs almost immediately and knew that Benedict had come to help me. I didn't bother to listen to the conversation, but I heard raised voices, a thud, another thud, more voices and a slam of a door. Not even 3 seconds later, there was an incessant banging at the door.  
"Natalia!" Benedict shouted through the door. I wiped away the escaped tears and opened the door to find Benedict with a bleeding nose. I gasped and pulled him inside and shut the door. "Natalia, are you alright?" I ignored his question.  
"Oh my god, Benedict, what did you do? Did he punch you?" I fussed and he sighed and nodded.  
"He'll be moving out today." He muttered.  
"I see… Let me clean you up." I led him to my bed and sat him down, rushing off to get some wipes and tissues. When I got back, he wasted no time in asking me what happened.

I sighed. "He knocked on the door and apologised, though it was pretty fake, called me 'sweetheart', tried to ask me out on a date (twice) and then started going on about how I'm still single." The last part wasn't a complete lie; it just wasn't the entire truth. Benedict looked at me intensely as I cleaned up the blood carefully and stemmed the flow. I just had to remove the bloodstains on his face and he'd be good to go. "Did you hit him back?" I asked softly. He nodded.  
"In the jaw. He's in a worse state than me." I chuckled quietly and continued my job. The blood had worked itself onto his lips, so I'd have to wipe it off his infuriating cupid's bow and lower lip. There was very slight bruising under his nose, so I had to be really careful not to cause any more pain to him.

It was very hard to concentrate on dabbing at drying blood while he was watching me so intensely and I was so close to his face to see what I was doing. Our noses were a hair breadth away and, to make the situation worse, in order to reach his face properly, I was basically sitting in his lap. His eyes didn't even seem to blink as they just stared up at me. It was incredibly difficult not to look into his gorgeous eyes, and there were times where I thought I'd crack, but I didn't. When I got to his bottom lip, his lips parted and I felt his warm, hot breath caress my fingers as I folded the wipe into a smaller square and continued to dab at the blood.

As soon as I finished, Benedict licked his lips. I straightened up and tossed the wipe to the side, smiling at him. "All done. Good as new. Gorgeous as ever." Oh god, why? I didn't get much time to regret what I said, as Benedict pulled me down onto his lap by the waist. Now I really was sitting in his lap. In fact, I was straddling him. But all I could do was stare into his eyes that held the ocean and space melded together. It held hope for me.

"Natalia…" He breathed, his hands on the small of my back pulling me slightly closer. I was simply too shocked to speak, so I nodded slowly in response. "I… I really… I want… Natalia, I… I can barely speak." He laughed nervously at the end.  
"What is it?" I mumbled and his eyes closed for a moment before opening again, but this time, a darker, desirous sea foam. His pupils were much bigger than usual, and his eyes kept fluttering shut, especially whenever I shifted a little. "It's been 3 months now, and… A-and I think you are…" My phone decided to ring at that moment. Fuck, shit, bollocks, knob, tit, arse, poo… I swear to fucking god, if he was about to say that he likes me more than a friend, I'm going to murder the person on the phone…

I sighed, as Benedict did also, and started to get up to retrieve my phone, but Benedict merely reached over and grabbed it and passed it to me. I accepted the phone and call.  
"You do know it's been more than a month since you've called me." My mother spoke steadily but sternly.  
"Yes, I do, I've been busy, mum." I replied with a sigh. Benedict slowly moved me off his lap to sit beside him. He stroked my free hand.  
"Busy? Busy doing what? Working as a floozy at that pub? That job is below you, Natalia, why not try something practical, like painting, or writing, or, better yet, a simple desk job as a secretary. That's much nicer for a girl your age." I frowned into the phone.  
"Mum, I'm 32, I think I can decide what I want to do for the rest of my life or not." I snapped.

"And you've been floating from job to job non-stop. And then you decide to settle in a pub? A bar? What's gotten into you, child? You used to be so well-behaved…" I rolled my eyes, knowing full well that she couldn't see it.  
"Because I find a good job to fit my skills, mum. I'm still looking, it's just that I'm in the pub to make money to pay my rent and I'm still searching for something. Alright? Happy? No, you're not, because everything I do just makes you angry at me." I growled.  
"That's not true and you know it." I stood up angrily, forgetting Benedict was there.  
"Yes it is, you always loved Jenny more and she's not even your daughter!"  
"Be quiet, Natalia, you don't know what you're saying." My mother said as haughtily as she could, as if she were denying the truth. But she wasn't.

"You're not even denying it, mum, you loved Jenny more than me because she was better than me at everything. She could do sewing, drawing, singing, dancing, playing, maths, science, English, everything that you wanted in a daughter she could do." My voice was going high with hysteria and I sat back down again to calm myself. "Face it, mum, I'm just not the daughter you wanted. I'm sure you wished that I'd died instead of Jenny." There was silence on the phone.  
"I do, sometimes." I hung up the phone and chucked it across the room, narrowly missing the television. I sank down and covered my face with my hands, my body wracking with sobs. I felt warm arms around me and I melted into them, weeping like a little lost girl.

Shopping was cancelled, as Benedict had to be called in for an emergency costume fitting for Sherlock (and I wasn't in the mood to be seen publically). I had spent the entire day playing with Frenchie and composing some random piano music while singing Let It Be and Yesterday over and over to myself. My mother hadn't tried to contact me after I had hung up and I hadn't attempted to apologise (for nothing). Frenchie had noted my foul and depressing mood and had gotten bored of me quickly, instead prowling around the apartment. I refused to leave my room, as there was a chance to run into Michael.

I was singing Yesterday softly when I heard a door close. My body froze in writing down more notes, and I heard some cursing under someone's breath. Michael. I didn't dare make a sound, but curiosity was eating at me to find out what he was doing. I silently crept to my door and listened closely.  
"Fucking landlord… Cumberbastard, fucking twat… Him and his bitch…" I narrowed my eyes. Maybe I wasn't that interested anymore. "I'll fucking get them. Just you wait… That bitch will fucking pay, and then he will, fucking celebrity. What a twat." His voice got further away as he went downstairs. He sounded like he was struggling with boxes. I didn't bother to go and help.

I was sitting on my bed upside down when someone knocked on my door. My legs were up the wall and my back was on the mattress while I read more poetry. "Who is it?" I called, not bothering to move.  
"Benedict." I heard through the door. I gulped. What if he was coming to apologise for what he did earlier? Pulling me onto his lap? And pretty much seducing me? What if he wants me to forget about it? It's all I'd been thinking about the entire day, and I'd been reading sappy romantic poetry and dreaming that he would read more of it to me.  
"C-come in." I yelled out. The door wasn't locked, so he just came straight in.

"How are you feeling?" He asked immediately, shutting the door behind him. I shrugged, my book still in my hands and open.  
"I guess a little better. I haven't been thinking about the phone call much, since I've been spending my time reading sappy poetry." Benedict chuckled in response.  
"I'm glad to hear that. I've got a surprise for you, and you may hate me for it." I frowned and turned on my front, bending my knees and resting my feet on the wall.  
"Why would I hate you?" He didn't reply, he only grinned sheepishly. He opened my door, grabbed something from the hallway and came back in.

In his hand was a dress on a coat hanger. It was a blue with a satin-like fabric and was halter-neck. It also had a sash around the waist. It was simple but beautiful. I stared at it and then at Benedict.  
"Did you…?" He nodded proudly.  
"I couldn't help but notice how lovely you look in blue, especially a dark blue, and I saw this and I just thought 'she'd love it. It'd look amazing on her.' So I bought it straight away." He recounted for me with evident pride on his tone. "Do you like it?" I laughed.  
"I love it, Benedict." I grinned.  
"Oh, you don't need to call me Benedict any more, that's for sure. I keep forgetting to say, you can just call me Ben, if you like. Benedict is a long name." He said with a light blush. I smiled at him.  
"Alright, Ben. I love it." And I love you.

He looked so happy with himself that I laughed and donned an affectionate smile on my face while he explained where he got it from, how much it was and wondering whether he got the right size or not.

It's the morning of the wedding and I'm running around like a headless chicken, trying to find the other shoe to my outfit. I was hoping to wear the red spotted heels again, but one of them had gone missing about 15 minutes from when we had to leave. "Ben?!" I screeched down the stairs. He hurried to the landing and looked up.  
"What's wrong?!" He shouted, with worry etched on his face. Oops.  
"I, uh, I can't find my other shoe…" I groaned sheepishly. He looked at me and just laughed. "I think I saw Frenchie with it a few minutes ago. He's down here, hang on, I'll grab it for you." He disappeared from sight and I smiled. He's a complete and utter sweetheart to me.

I heard him trying to coax the shoe from Frenchie downstairs and then he yelped. I squeaked in response, knowing that Frenchie had scratched him. Running down the stairs as quickly as I could in one heel, I ended up in Benedict's room with a bruise on my arm from hitting the nool post. Benedict was nursing a hand that had one very deep (and very much bleeding) scratch in it. "Oh, Frenchie, look what you've done!" I squealed as I hurried over to Benedict to see the damage. Ben hissed when I took his hand and ran it under a tap to clean off the blood. "Oh, lordy, I'm so sorry about Frenchie, he's such a trouble-maker, he'll only be here for a week, I promise." I apologised as Benedict shook his head.

"It's perfectly fine, Natalia, I should have learned my lesson by now; not to try and take something Frenchie likes away." He said, dismissing the subject. I continued to wash the blood out of the wound, acutely aware of Benedict's eyes on me. "You look lovely." He murmured, his voice rich and deep. I blushed.  
"Thank you." I looked at him. "You're looking rather dashing yourself, Mr Cumberbatch, as always." I complimented. It was true though, he was looking very fine. He was wearing a black suit with a black tie and waistcoat, and it looked absolutely divine on him. You're going to be taking him as your date.

Once I'd cleaned the scratch completely and tended to the redness, I turned to Frenchie with a disapproving look and my hands on my hip. I can't imagine that I looked very intimidating with one shoe on, however. "Frenchie… You should be utterly ashamed of yourself." Frenchie stared up at me. "I'm going to ask you nicely to give me my shoe, and if I don't get it back, you'll have no toy privileges. No treats, either. Just plain dry food. For the rest of the week." I threatened, saying the last few sentences as nonchalantly as possible. Frenchie continued to stare up at me and then, begrudgingly, walked away from the shoe he had been laying on. I swear, the cat is freakishly intelligent but is so food-driven, it makes no difference whatsoever. I put the shoe on, my height becoming equal (and boosted).

"That was impressive." Benedict said behind me, straightening his tie with a small frown before just pulling it off.  
"Thank you." I said with a smile. "What's wrong with your tie?" He shrugged.  
"I'm not sure I'm in a tie-mood. But I don't know what else to wear."  
"How about a bowtie?" I offered, with a slightly hopeful smile. I had always loved Benedict in a bowtie, and seeing him in one now would be hnng… He grinned.  
"Good idea." He complimented, and grabbed a readily made black bowtie from a drawer. "Would you mind fixing it for me? I can never get the hang of it." I nodded, screaming internally.

He put the tie around his neck and walked over to me, presenting himself to me. Now that sounds dirty. Ssh, you. "Take as much time as you need." I saw his lips mumble from where I was looking at the tie. I shyly glanced up at him, and he was giving me that intense look with his dark, beautiful eyes. He winked at me and I know that I blushed heavily. His now smirking mouth widened. It was incredibly difficult to ignore that infuriating mouth when I was tying a bowtie with slightly trembling fingers, but I think I just about managed it.

I tightened it a little and smiled at the handiwork. I had never actually tied a bowtie before, but I guess it was alright. Benedict looked down at it with a little smile. "Better than me, darling." He teased. I chuckled softly and shook my head. I felt some fur curl around my bare leg and I looked down to find Frenchie nuzzling my leg in an attempt to apologise. "Feeling bad, are you?" I giggled, stooping to pick him up. I hesitated, but went to pick him up anyway. He didn't walk away, or claw at my hand. He looked at my hands reaching for him and didn't move whatsoever. After getting over the general shock of his compliance, I picked him up and cuddled him into my chest.

"You're a good boy, really, aren't you, Frenchie?" I cooed into his fur with a little smile and he began to purr when I scratched his ears. "It's a good thing you don't shed, you know." I'd have cat hair all over my chest if he did, and all over my room (and Benedict's). Benedict chuckled at me and raised a hand hesitantly to pet him. I nodded and presented Frenchie to him. Frenchie purred into Ben's hand as he scratched the sweet spot behind his ear. "See? You don't have to be so mean. You can just be nice and we'll pet you and you can… you can just be a nice kitty. Does that sound alright? It does to me." I know how awful I must have sounded, but I couldn't help but speak like an idiot when the occasion arose.

I chanced a look up at Benedict and he was smiling warmly at me. I beamed back sheepishly with a heavy pink tint on my cheeks. "You're cute with animals." He said, making me blush all the more.  
"Thank you." I managed to stammer out. He checked his watch.  
"Come on, we don't want to be late. Let's leave some food out for Frenchie and head out."

It took us almost 2 hours to get there, as the wedding was taking place in the village that Marchelle and her fiancé grew up in. It was a very pretty church that they were to be wed in, and the architecture was astonishingly elaborate for a church in such a simple village. The car journey (in Ben's jaguar) was usually quiet, as we put on a CD that we both agreed on. It was mostly a mixed up compilation CD, some of the tracks only one of us would know, or, on the occasion, we'd sing out at the top of our lungs because we'd listened to it so much when we were teenagers.

We walked up the church path about 15 minutes earlier than what the invite said, so we were safe. Before we went in through the door, Benedict offered me his arm and I gladly accepted it. When we went in, everyone was simply conversing about the dress, the church and the groom. Before Marchelle worked in the pub, she was a model, I should mention. Not a very well-known model, but enough to get a decent amount of money and a decent amount of frighteningly beautiful friends. Of course, there were only about 3 or 4 of those friends here, but immediately, their gaze latched onto Benedict, and 2 of the 4 scowled at me. I gulped and looked up at Ben, pretending I didn't see them. He smiled down at me and kissed my forehead. "Feeling alright?" He mumbled to me caringly. I nodded reluctantly.

"I guess…" I breathed a sigh. His head tilted to the side.  
"What's wrong?" I shrugged.  
"Just… You know… Nerves. People I don't know. People I probably won't like. And 2 that certainly don't like me." I muttered the last part under my breath. He frowned down at me, removing his arm from mine to lay a hand on my bare shoulder. Barely repressing a shiver, I answered.  
"Well… The 2 girls over there, you know, the absolutely drop-dead gorgeous ones, they keep glaring at me and we've only been here 3 minutes. I get the feeling that they don't think I deserve to even be near you. Which they have a point about." I, again, mumbled that last part again. I was hoping he wouldn't catch it, but catch it, he did.

"Natalia, I know you're not very confident about yourself, but please, please, do not doubt whether you deserve to be with me." He said with. "I don't care what they say about our relationship," He said relationship, "What matters is that we like each other enough to want to be together." Be… Together? My face must have coloured to new heights (or new shades) because he stammered a little. "I-I mean, that we want to be as close as we are… A-as friends… Which is fine, you know… I…" He was interrupted by a voice.

A man stood at the proper entrance to the church hall. "Will everyone please enter the hall now? We are about to begin the service." He said loudly with a bland smile on his face. Everyone slowly bustled towards the doors and we followed, Benedict keeping a firm arm around my waist to keep me next to him. We sat at the back left, away from everyone else, because neither of us were big on weddings, so we figured we could talk really quietly at the back (as we had both discussed in the car on the way). Unfortunately, the 2 models who had scowled had followed us, and sat in front of us. The other 2 models looked at me in sympathy and came to sit beside us instead.

They were, most certainly, very pretty. The girls who sat beside us smiled at us graciously. "Hi, I'm Joy, and this is Ingrid." The one next to me said, gesturing to herself and her friend.  
"This is Benedict and I'm Natalia." We shook hands with smiles on our faces.  
"It's lovely to meet you two."  
"You too."

Joy had long blonde hair with very dark brown eyes. She was pale, but not unhealthily so, and had a few freckles on her face. She wore a light blue dress that fit her well but didn't make her look like a twig. Ingrid, on the other hand, had very dark hair and very light blue eyes. She was of a darker complexion, much like chocolate, and wore a bright red dress that was skinnier than Joy's dress, but fit her curves pretty much perfectly. I tried not to be envious, but it was oh so hard, and I couldn't stop myself.

Joy leaned in close. "Ignore the 2 bitches in front. They're horrid." She whispered in my ear. "The one on the left is Kayleigh, and the one on the right is Amy." Kayleigh also had blonde hair, but it was much longer than Joy's, and was very curly too. From afar, her eyes appeared to be a sort of green-blue (which I was incredibly jealous of), and she was extremely skinny (which I was not at all jealous of). She was clothed in a short pink dress that had flowers and ruffles at the shoulder. Amy had strawberry blonde hair that was in a long ponytail and was also curled with a purple flower where the hairband was. I believe she had blue eyes and was very pale. She, like, Kayleigh, was skinny, but she had a balance between skinniness and curves, which I'm sure made Kayleigh quite envious. She wore a purple dress that was somewhat see-through, save for the slip she wore underneath it.

I looked at Joy and she nodded at me. I nodded at back with a little grimace. Joy then looked behind me and back at me, gestured slightly with her head, and then turned to the front. I turned and found Benedict looking at me so intensely, I thought I might cry. He leaned in close and just before the priest spoke, he murmured raggedly in my ear: "I shall never stray from you for another." The hoarseness of his voice turned me on (just the slightest bit, I swear, I think), and he leaned back, staring at me still while the priest droned on and on. Slowly, his hand moved to mine, resting half on my thigh, half on my hand.

It was extremely difficult to concentrate while the priest spoke about things that I don't even care about. Marchelle wasn't even here yet and I was bored out of my skull. Suddenly, we heard the huge doors open at the front. "All rise." The priest called, raising his hands as gesture for obedience. We did so and stared at the aisle where the bride would appear.

And she did. Her white dress looked incredible on her, with lace sleeves and everything. She'd gone all out; tiara, veil, huge bouquet of flowers, diamond shoes, everything. I can't really say I blame her – she's been dreaming about this day for her whole life, even since she was 5 years old. She'd always wanted to be a princess, and I guess she got to now. My heart clenched at the thought that I would never achieve this happiness, and the only man that I wanted was standing right beside me but had most probably friend-zoned me, and friend-zoned me hard.

She got the front and stood staring at her fiancé. His name was Dale, if I remember correctly. "All be seated." The priest called once more and we sat down again. I found an arm where my back was supposed to be, however. I frowned and looked back to find Ben's arm curling around me purposefully and pulling me closer. I looked up at him, but his eyes were closed. Before he could open them, I turned to the front, my facing scalding red.

It was longer than I thought it was going to be, because the vows that were written were long. When we got out, it was late afternoon and the sun was beating down upon us. I regretted wearing dark blue, but it made Ben happy, so I didn't complain. Speaking of Benedict, his arm was still around me, even when we crowded out of the church and waited for the bride and groom to emerge, happily married. We were handed confetti and began to cheer and sing when they walked out, hand in hand and the bouquet in Marchelle's other hand. Their silver rings glistened on their fingers.

We posed for the photo and then Marchelle got all of the single women together to stand behind her. I hid behind Benedict a little to avoid being chosen, but Marchelle shouted at me. "Natalia! You get your shy, attractive arse over here and catch the bloody bouquet! I want to see you and Mr Handsome married by next month!" Oh lordy… Everyone turned to stare and shout at me to join the single ladies throng. I was glared at by Amy and Kayleigh again, but I ignored it as best as I could. Looking at Benedict, I grimaced a little to show my displeasure. He chuckled. "She has a point." He uttered. "You do have an attractive arse." He winked and pushed me forwards. I took my place by Joy and Ingrid with a rosy face, earning a lovely smile from them. Marchelle, however, didn't stop speaking. "Ingrid! Joy! Get out of that group! You two are together, stop trying to cheat me!" She screeched with laughter.

Ingrid and Joy laughed, kissed each other softly and left the group, waving to me cheerfully. "Okay, girls, 3… 2… 1!" Marchelle chucked it back and the female instinct inside me rose to try and catch the bouquet and I couldn't stop it. I reached up and leaped for it, catching it easily. I felt a hand scratch down my arm, but I ignored it. Marchelle turned and grinned cheekily at me. "Finders keepers, eh, Natalia?" She teased. I blushed and flicked a petal at her playfully. "Go on, go back to your man. I'll see you at reception, won't I?" She sounded so hopeful, how could I refuse her? I wasn't going to, but I still couldn't.

"Of course, I will. We'll both be there." I said, gesturing to where Benedict was roughly. She smiled and called for Dale. Everyone crowded around the car as they leapt in and drove off with a hearty honk and a cheery wave. Some of the men ran after the car like typical young men and came back with red cheeks but still broad grins. I was always reluctant to go to weddings, because they were boring and depressing for me, but whenever I saw the looks of the bride and groom, the friends and family of them, it just seemed to be all worthwhile. Two people are in love, and everyone else is happy because of it. Dear lordy, I'm practically monologuing.

People began to leave and Ben and I headed to the jaguar, the bouquet still in my hand. I could feel a strange kind of air about us. It was like a knowing, or maybe even a tension between us, because we knew what the other was thinking sometimes.

Yes, I'd thought about what Benedict had been doing throughout the entire ceremony, and I had, in fact, concluded that he did like me. Or at least, think that he likes me. All of his general behaviour around and towards me just gushed interest in me romantically (or physically). So, yes, the atmosphere between us was tense because we knew what the other wanted, and that we wanted it too.

We slid into the jaguar and just sat there for a little while, not sure what to do. Should we kiss now? Cherish the moment later? Drive to the party now? Get a hotel room and head up later? Make out in the back seat? That idea appealed to me very much, but I stomped it out of my head. Not yet. "Shall we head up to a local hotel or inn and stay there until it's time?" I checked the time on the dashboard. We had another hour and a half until the reception party began. Benedict looked at the time and then nodded, starting up the car. It roared majestically and then settled into a delightful purr. Okay, so I have a love for jaguars. So?

The entire car ride there was also tense, because neither of us had made a move yet. Neither of us had even spoken about what had transpired before and during the ceremony, least of all the entire week of flirting we've had. The only time we spoke was about which inn would be best and where it was. By the time we found an inn that was cheap and close enough to the party that we could get there quickly, we had about 30 minutes left. We'd have to check in, dump our stuff and run out again.

Benedict didn't ask for 2 singles, or separate rooms, by the way. He went right ahead and asked for a double. Literally. He just said: "Can we have a room please? Double? Just for the night, I think. Got a cat at home, you know, can't leave it starving." He said it so cheerfully, it was like he didn't even know what he was saying. The receptionist nodded, took in details and handed us a key. We were on the 3rd floor at the end. We stepped into the elevator after thanking the receptionist and pressed the button '3'. As soon as the doors closed, Benedict had me against a wall and was simply staring into my eyes.

"Do you remember what I said to you before the wedding started?" He murmured, his voice vibrating through my ears like a cello and his jaguar mixed together. Hnng. "Just before the ceremony began?" I nodded shyly. "What did I say?" He urged me, one of his arms around my waist, the other hand flat against the wall behind me.  
"Y-you said that you would never stray from me for another." I stammered. He nodded at me.  
"And I meant that with the deepest foundations of my heart, you know. I will never leave you for another, beca-." The doors opened and we sprang, in case someone was coming in. But, no, we'd arrived at our floor.

We stepped out and walked into the hotel room in silence, threw our bags in without actually looking at the room, chucked the bouquet on the bed and left the inn completely.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Benedict and Natalia attend the reception.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The songs were a little unnecessary, but if you want, you can skip them. The first song is Flightless Bird American Mouth by Iron & Wine, the second is Friday I'm In Love by The Cure, the third is She-Wolf by David Guetta feat Sia and the last one is Always Attract by You Me At Six. All very good songs and ones that I thought would be fun and fitting to parts of the relationship.

The reception party looked pretty, when we walked in. There were flowery garlands everywhere, just dotted around the ceiling, the walls, and the floor (because the ones on the ceiling fell off). The entire place looked somewhat fancy, but welcoming, and I can say that I approved wholeheartedly. Benedict and I arrived when the midst of the guests were arriving. We weren't too early, and we weren't too late, either.

Immediately, we made a bee-line for a lonely table. Benedict pulled up 2 other chairs for Joy and Ingrid, as we hoped that they would join us. A waiter came along and took a starter order, as we would all eat properly before the bride and groom made their speech so the meal could go down for dessert.

Unfortunately, Joy and Ingrid were a little later than we had hoped, and 2 different people sat at our table. 50 points to your house if you thought Kayleigh and Amy. They sat down quickly and pulled their chairs closer to Benedict, while he (subtly) pushed his chair towards mine. Kayleigh introduced herself first, because she was sat closest. "Hey, I'm Kayleigh."  
"And I'm Amy." Benedict smiled politely.  
"I'm Benedict, and this is Natalia." He gestured towards me. I smiled limply at them but they didn't even look at me.  
"It's amazing to finally meet you." Amy gushed, leaning her face on her hands. Benedict blushed a little.  
"Yeah, we're, like, your biggest fans. Love your work in Sherlock." Kayleigh complimented.

"Oh, thank you." He replied happily. "If you liked Sherlock, you'll love Star Trek and Frankenstein. At least, I hope so." He was grinning widely. The girls faltered slightly.  
"O-oh, I'm not really a Star Trek fan…" Kayleigh muttered.  
"And I hate the makeup you have to wear." Amy interjected with a whiny tone. "I'd much prefer it if we got to see your gorgeous face all the way through." She had a teasing tilt to her smile and she kept looking up at him from under her eyelashes.

A loud somewhat familiar giggle tore me away from the conversation that was, incidentally, tearing up my insides, to find Joy and Ingrid had arrived. I waved them over with a big smile and they pretty much ran over, hoisted me up and took me to the bathrooms. "What are those 2 bitches doing at your table?" Ingrid pretty much shrieked. I shrugged.  
"I don't know, we pulled up chairs for you 2, but they sat down in them!" I fussed loudly, working myself into a tizz. "I don't know what to do, all they're doing is complimenting him all the time and I can't stop listening to him laughing with them and, gahh!" Ingrid put a sympathetic hand on my shoulder while Joy appeared to be thinking hard.

"Are you 2 together, yet? Like together together yet?" I faltered.  
"I… No, we're not…" Joy jabbed her finger at me.  
"Then you have to lay your claim!" She demanded. I yelped a little out of surprise. "He's not going to realise what he's doing wrong until you say something. Not until you actually tell him that you love him forever and want to be with him and have little Natenedict babies together!" I burst into laughter.  
"Natenedict?" I managed to gasp out. The girls laughed as well.

"But seriously, girl, you need to show them that he is yours, and they can't have him. If they take him, they'll fight between themselves about who actually gets him." Ingrid warned and I shuddered at the thought of them catfighting while he sits there with a terrified expression. I then nodded. I had a mission. I had to show them (and myself) that I could lay claim if I wanted to. He had already said that he wouldn't stray from me. Time to show him that I wouldn't let him do that! "But first, let's give you a bit more of a makeover." Shit.

We walked out of the bathroom in what I imagine to be a dramatic fashion. As though there was an explosion behind us, or we were walking to a duty that we couldn't shirk for the good of mankind. I ramble when I'm nervous, you know this! We headed for the table and Joy and Ingrid pulled up seats. I was relieved to find that Amy had not taken my seat, but it looked like she was eying it.

I felt a little confident with more makeup, but I didn't want to look like a whore or anything, so I refused on letting them put too much on me. As I went to sit in my seat, I kissed Benedict on the cheek (near the mouth, as Joy advised). We sat down at the same time to be greeted with glares from the girls. I turned to Benedict, trying not to blush at his frozen, absent look as he gaped at me. "Sorry about that, I had a few things to catch up on with Joy and Ingrid." My new (and possibly best) friends smiled at me and held hands on the table. Amy and Kayleigh openly frowned at them with looks of disgust on their faces. That was not something I could tolerate.

"Do you have something to say to them?" I questioned. They looked at me with their eyebrows raised. They looked between the couple beside me and myself and shook their heads. "Then stop staring at them. It's irritating." I said simply. Their mouths hung open and I could hear Joy and Ingrid trying not to laugh beside me. Benedict just stared at me with a very slight smile on his (still) open mouth.

Amy and Kayleigh looked at each other and then stood. "Well, we'll see you later, Benedict." Amy said wistfully.  
"Yes, I really hope we will. Maybe I can have a dance?" Kayleigh added with hope. Benedict shrugged.  
"If I'm not busy charming Natalia, perhaps I'll concur. But for now, goodnight ladies." He was so subtle about him dismissing them that they didn't even realise. Us 3 girls still seated exchanged looks. And then Amy and Kayleigh stooped and kissed Benedict on both cheeks at the same time, lingering slightly. They straightened, smiled sickeningly sweetly at me and flounced off. I glared after them while Joy and Ingrid voiced their outrages.

"You can't kiss her man!" Ingrid shouted angrily.  
"Get your own, you vultures!" Joy agreed. I sighed and shook my head.  
"It doesn't matter, guys, I can't keep up the front for long." I muttered dejectedly. I felt Ben's hand slip into mine as I stared at my untouched wine. I wasn't really hungry any more, but the waiter brought nachos, and you can't not eat nachos.

The girls rounded on Benedict, taking the other girls' seats away and moving around the table evenly. "Benedict, you've seriously got to stop them from doing that." Ingrid reprimanded. "Those girls were looking at you like you were something to eat."  
"Yeah, if we hadn't have given Natalia that makeup and nerve boost, they wouldn't have left until you had conceded to go back to their apartment for rough sex." Joy continued, pointing her finger of doom at him. He shrugged a little.  
"I'm sorry, I guess I wasn't really thinking. I thought Natalia had gone because she was upset, but I couldn't exactly follow her to the bathrooms. I didn't know what to do. They were annoyingly persistent." He admitted. I refused to look up, instead staring at the nachos that I was still eating, along with Ingrid.

"As long as you don't let it happen again, Benedict, we're fine. I've got a fantasy of you two getting married and having Natenedict babies together." Benedict burst into laughter, like I had.  
"Natenedict?" He spluttered. Joy grinned.  
"That's how Natalia reacted as well." Ingrid teased, nudging my ankle with her foot under the table. I looked up at her and she gave me a meaningful eyebrow raise. I chuckled softly at their antics.

"Well, the makeup you put on her certainly helped her come out of her shell." Benedict observed. "And for that, I'm glad. You two are certainly good for us." He joked. They laughed and I squeezed out a giggle too. His hand tightened around my own and I looked up at him as our main meals arrived. He smiled warmly at me. I was simply eating a tomato, crouton, chicken and bacon mix with a little bit of spinach on the side, while everyone else went for things like partridge and halibut fish. It was an expensive place, so I didn't want to make the price too large with my appetite. Besides, I wasn't extremely hungry anyway.

Once finished, Dale stood up from his place at the higher table. He made his speech with no stutters whatsoever, which everyone applauded, since Dale was known for his stutter on words beginning with 't'. Marchelle then rose and spoke about how happy she was in her relationship, how glad she was that we were all here. And then, she did something I did not expect at all.

"I've got a friend in here who's amazing at singing, and she doesn't know it yet, but I've actually made reservations for her to perform a song or 2 for us all. She'll hate me for this, and probably try and skin me alive, but oh well, this is what friends are for!" The crowd laughed, but I could feel myself sweating. Surely, she didn't mean…? "Please, give it up for Natalia Frame!" She bloody well did. She pointed over to me and beckoned for me to stand up. I frowned and shook my head. "Yes, you, come on, this is my wedding present from you."  
"Your wedding present is on that pile over there!" I shouted and she laughed, giving me a pout and puppy dog eyes.

"Please?" She begged. I sighed and stood. The applause increased, Benedict squeezing my hand before letting it go so I could go to the stage near the table, in front of the dance floor. "The microphones waiting for you, and the song I know you can sing is sitting there on a bit of card." I got to the microphone.  
"You've really planned this out, haven't you?" I said into it. The guests all laughed and watched me in anticipation. I flipped the card over by the keyboard and sighed. Flightless Bird American Mouth. Of course.

That was her wedding song that she had always wanted to be sang by me at her wedding. She had made me promise that years ago, I had scarcely even remembered that. I looked at her and she smiled at me. "Alright, fine." I muttered into the microphone. On a whim, my eyes sought out Amy and Kayleigh, and I found them sneering up at me from the back, as if daring me to actually sing.

Confidence, Natalia. Confidence is key.

"I was a quick, wet boy diving too deep for coins, all of your street light eyes, wide on my plastic toys." There was music in the background, so I assumed that it had started when I began singing. Everyone one was silent as I sang, and Marchelle and Dale slow-danced on the dance floor. "Then when the cops closed the fair, I cut my long baby hair, stole me a dog-eared map and called for you everywhere…" The chorus was so beautiful, even if it – and the rest of the song – made no sense.

"Have I found you?" My eyes glided over to Benedict immediately. "Flightless bird… Jealous… Weeping, or lost you? American mouth. Big pill… looming…" He smiled at me affectionately and I gained a little confidence boost. "Now I'm a fat, house cat nursing my sore blunt tongue, watching the warm poison rats curl through the wide fence cracks. Pissing on magazine photos those fishing lures thrown in the cold and clean blood of Christ mountain stream…"

"Have I found you? Flightless bird. Grounded… Bleeding, or lost you? American mouth. Big pill… stuck going down…" And the rest was me humming along to the lovely music in the background. I'll admit I had forgotten how much I loved that song. When it ended, everyone applauded, and I felt great.

"One more song and then you can dance with lover-boy!" Marchelle shouted up at me giddily. I rolled my eyes but concurred.

I looked through the karaoke list and found another classic that we loved. It came on and I hummed out to it, most people recognising it instantly. "I don't care if Monday's blue, Tuesday's grey and Wednesday too. Thursday, I don't care about you, it's Friday, I'm in love!" I could even hear Benedict laughing from our table. I heard Marchelle screech:  
"It's funny, cause it's a Friday!" Well, duh. Oh, she's silly.  
"Monday, you can't fall apart. Tuesday, Wednesday, break my heart. Thursday doesn't even start, it's Friday, I'm in love! Saturday, wait. But Sunday always comes too late. But Friday never hesitate! I don't care if Monday's black! Tuesday, Wednesday, heart attack. Thursday, never looking back, it's Friday, I'm in love!" The instrumental was pretty, and I recalled how lovely the song was when I first heard it. Everyone was on the dance floor now, and I could see Kayleigh trying to coax Benedict to dance with her, but, to my joy, he was refusing.

"Monday, you can hold your head. Tuesday, Wednesday, stay in bed, oh Thursday, watch the walls, instead, it's Friday, I'm in love! Saturday, wait. But Sunday always comes too late. But Friday never hesitate! Dressed up to the eyes, it's a wonderful surprise, to see your shoes and your spirits rise, Throwing out your frown and just smiling at the sound, sleek as a sheik spinning round and round, always take a big bite, it's such a gorgeous sight, to see you eat in the middle of the night! You can never get enough, enough of this stuff, it's Friday, I'm in love! I don't care if Monday's blue, Tuesday's grey and Wednesday too. Thursday, I don't care about it, it's Friday, I'm in love! Monday, you can fall apart. Tuesday, Wednesday, break my heart. Thursday doesn't even start, it's Friday, I'm in love!"

The song ended after a little more of instrumental and I bowed, stepping off the stage as quickly as I could. I hurried back to our table as quick as I could and Joy and Ingrid were clapping and wolf-whistling. Benedict, ignoring Kayleigh for once, leapt up, avoided a chair and swept me up into his arms with a big grin. I felt so warm and right in his arms and I squished closer to him. "'Friday, I'm in love' is right." He mumbled into my hair, his lips brushing my ear. I chuckled softly to avoid the shiver, but it didn't work.  
"I thought it would apply in more areas than one." I muttered back, some confidence miraculously making it through and staying for more. Benedict pulled back and stared at me with a huge grin.  
"Oh, really? What areas would those be?" Bollocks.  
"Well, there's a wedding, it's a Friday, things like that." Benedict laughed lightly at me and drew me in close again. Hah, you thought I was going to go all red and stutter, didn't you? But no, I had a plan! Haha! Oh lordy, it must be late, I'm getting hysterical…

"Care for a dance?" Ben offered with a smile. I grinned.  
"Of course." I replied, and he escorted me to the dance floor. The song 'She Wolf (Falling to Pieces)' came on when we were in the midst of the dancers and I felt myself singing along. Trust Marchelle to have a club song at her wedding. I was pulled away from Benedict by said woman and I frowned at her. "Sorry, Benedict, you'll get her back after this song!" She apologised to Benedict. He laughed.  
"I'd better! It's a little lonely here!" I hoped to god that Kayleigh wouldn't show up. Marchelle turned me to her.  
"Come on, we're going to do our dance!" She shouted over the noise. I sighed and rolled my eyes but conceded my fate.

The dancers backed up to form a circle around us and I groaned. Oh, yay, an audience again. "Come on, Natalia, lighten up!" Marchelle teased and started the dance, which was an amazing feat in her dress. Sighing, I joined in. It wasn't a very good dance, mind you. It was something we made up a while ago when we had a girl's night in and were a little bit drunk. Most of it was some ridiculous hip-wiggling and slut drops. Okay, so we were a little more than a 'little bit drunk'. But there were some points where we forgot what we were doing, so we made it up. I tried to ignore the fact that everyone was watching us, and that Amy and Kayleigh were judging me, and that Benedict was watching, but it was very hard. The song ended and I darted away after a little bow and a smile at Marchelle.

An arm caught me around the waist and I was spun into Ben, my back pressed against his chest, as a slow song came on. It was a pretty song, and I felt that I knew it, but I'd have to wait for the lyrics to begin. Slowly, Benedict spun me around so that it was my front pressed against his chest instead. Everyone around us was spinning at a leisurely pace as well, so we did the same. I was terrified to look up at him, so I put my head on his shoulder and he pulled me closer, his lips on my hair. The song turned out to be 'Always Attract' by the band You Me At Six, one that Marchelle always fangirled over, while I did the same for Benedict. Of course, he needn't know that. The lyrics began and I sang quietly along as we span.

It was pretty much a perfect song for dancing to because it had a crescendo at the end, designed for a kiss to be shared at the end of the dance. My anticipation for that moment was pretty much at its peak when the song came to the climax. Ben pulled back gently and looked down at me, though I was certainly taller than usual with my heels on. "Natalia…" He murmured under his breath, nuzzling my face softly with his nose, as though he were inhaling me.  
"Benedict…" I whispered back with my eyes closed, his lips dusting over my eyelids.  
"I've been wanting something for a while now." His voice was so deep and rich, as his mouth had returned to my ear, brushing against it.  
"A-and w-what's that?" I breathed. He chuckled softly, though I could hear it waver slightly, and he tentatively licked the shell of my ear.  
"I think you know what." He muttered as shivers ran through me. His laugh became rough and throaty, and it most certainly did turn me on. Apparently when I'm turned on, I get a little more confident. I guess you've figured out from that 'apparently' that I'm still a virgin. I know. 32 and never had sex. I'm a disgrace.

"I'd love it if you would elaborate first…" I said lowly with a tiny smirk on my face. I was smirking. Benedict's mouth grinned against my throat as the song reached its final quiet verse. Hnng.  
"I want you."


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Benedict and Natalia return to their hotel room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you've read this all the way through, thank you so much! This and another fic that I'll be posting is one of my most popular fictions and I really hope it's just as much on this site! Again, thank you if you've read it all the way through!

The party was a great success, apart from the fact that Marchelle tripped over on her dress and sent a domino effect around the entire dance floor. Benedict managed to cushion my fall with his own body, but I continued to worry over him because I doubted that I was very light. When everything was said and done, we decided to leave early because, really, the party wasn't very interesting, and we wanted to continue our conversation in a more secluded place, like, say, the hotel room.

After gaining Joy's and Ingrid's numbers and addresses ("Don't forget to have sex!"), we left the building, saying goodbye to everyone we passed. Marchelle had given us a slice of the wedding cake each and a huge hug to thank us for attending. The jaguar looked simply gorgeous with the streetlights on it and I smiled as I slid into the passenger seat, the cake slices in my bag by my feet. As soon as Benedict was in, the engine started (with a beautiful sound as always) and we were driving back to the hotel as quickly as we could within the speed limit. I grinned. "Eager, are we?" I teased. He looked at me with a wink.  
"You have no idea." He purred with a smirk and I think I melted there.

When the jaguar was parked, it was very difficult to keep walking in an orderly fashion into the hotel and not sneak any sly touches in. The receptionist smiled at us as we walked past and we returned it cheerily. I had most certainly been hoping for an empty elevator this time, but there was a family in there, so no inappropriate behaviour as of yet. They were on the same floor as us, so we waited for them to leave first and followed them down the corridor a bit. They went into their room and we continued on to our own. I took the hotel key out of my bag and unlocked the door, placing my bag on the side. Benedict followed and closed the door.

"I think it would be best if we got changed, don't you?" Ben teased, walking over to our bags and pulling out some pyjamas and toiletries. He was bloody doing this on purpose, but I wasn't confident enough to demand making out now, pyjamas later. I instead nodded with a slight pout and grabbed my stuff as well, ignoring the bouquet sitting on the bed. When I turned around, Benedict already had his jacket off and was removing his shirt. He looked up at me. "I can't seem to untie the bowtie. Would you mind?" He kept taunting me, continuing to unbutton his shirt so that his milky white flesh was revealed to me, an inch at a time.

Breathing deeply, I nodded and kicked off my heels before padding over and beginning to remove the bowtie. It came away loosely within 3 seconds of my fiddling with the tie and as soon as it did, Ben pulled me closer and smelled my hair deeply. He hummed in appreciation. "It's fun to see how long I can resist…" He murmured into my hair before pushing me away gently to continue getting changed. I could barely take my eyes off of him as he pulled the shirt off and began on his belt buckle. I blushed profusely and quickly turned away, heading to the bathroom to get changed. "I don't get a show then?" I heard him call and I turned around to find his trousers definitely off and him pulling on some pyjama bottoms.

"I-I… What… Do you want one?" I squeaked. He looked up at me.  
"I most certainly do." He growled with desire. Oh lordy… Gulping, I walked back to the bed and placed my stuff down. As slowly as I could, I pulled the small shrug I had been wearing off and pushed the straps of my dress off of my shoulders. The dress began to fall a little and I let it drop to my feet, having to push it over my hips a little. I heard Benedict groan softly, even from where I was, and I chanced a look at him. He was biting his lip and I could see his muscles clenching, his feet pretty much begging to be set into motion and run over. Even from here, I could see his… excitement.

I, again, slowly pulled my grey shorts on and inched my strappy top over my head, pulling it gently over my chest. I made eye contact with him again as I could see he was pretty much torturing himself. I then grabbed my toiletries bag and ran into the bathroom shamefully.

I could tell that I was incredibly turned on, and it was a very strange experience, because I had never really had that kind of a feeling before. I was also terrified. I knew what was going to happen tonight, and so did he. There was no way that I was backing out of it, but I was still scared to death of it. Trembling, I brushed my teeth and hair and washed my face. "Breathe, Natalia, breathe…" I whispered to myself. Deciding that I was good to go, I exited the bathroom, biting my lip. I barely even saw Benedict as he rushed into the bathroom to finish up quickly.

I looked at the bed and nearly squealed. Benedict had taken the bouquet and had strewn petals from the flowers all over it. "Benedict… Did you do this?" I squeaked out. He appeared at the door of the bathroom and winked.  
"Of course. It's got to be romantic, doesn't it?" He said and then disappeared again. I chuckled softly. I guess he really does like me…

I crawled onto the bed and heard a little groan again. Benedict had apparently only gone back in to put something down or something because he was back and standing at the doorway with dark eyes. I frowned. Perhaps wearing shorts and crawling was not the best idea… Then again, going by Ben's reaction, maybe it was… I smiled shyly. Apparently, that did it for him.

He pounced on the bed, the bump shoving me into an upright position, and he grabbed my face and kissed me chastely but passionately. Kissing Benedict Cumberbatch… I'm kissing Benedict Cumberbatch… Me… Benedict… Kissing… It was… incredible. Not going to lie, it was amazing. His hands were shaking slightly but not as much as mine were. I held his cheeks but soon made my way to his curly, soft hair. He groaned and pulled me closer, moving us and laying us down so that my head was on the pillows. He licked my lower lip and I opened my mouth. It was an experience that, honestly, I will never forget, ever.

His hands coasted up and down my body, never spending too much time on any place, and driving me mad. "Benedict…" I gasped out and his mouth moved to my throat, biting and sucking on the exposed flesh. "Ben…"  
"Natalia…" He moaned into my collarbone, leaving marks and saliva all over my body. I didn't even care; I was beyond thought at that moment. "I've wanted you for so long…"  
"And I you…"

"You are my coy mistress…"

The sex was incredible, I must say. It was passionate and loud and somewhat painful too, but the pleasure and ecstasy far outweighed that. We lay together, under the covers, covered in sweat and post-coital glow, I'm sure. I had never felt happier or more at home than I did then, pressed against his body with his arms around me. We'd been laying there for about 50 minutes before either of us said anything. "I love you…" I whispered, half hoping that he didn't hear it, because it may endanger our friendship and moment we were sharing. Instead, Benedict drew me closer and kissed me softly.  
"And I you, darling."


End file.
